Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, is ratcheting up his anti-White House rhetoric, seeking to put more distance between himself and President Obama’s high disapproval rating in his state.
“I think people are disappointed with the president and frustrated,” Begich said in a Politico report published Sunday.
“I’m making sure people understand that if you are mad at Obama, he will be gone in two. If you care about Alaska, I’m here for six. When I tell people that, I remind them, they get it,” he added.
Begich is scrambling to fend of his Republican challenger, former Attorney General Dan Sullivan.
Sullivan currently leads Begich in the polls 47 percent to 42.6 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics weighted average.
Like President Obama, Begich has struggled to win over women voters in Alaska, acknowledging recently that his campaign needs to find a way to clear this “hurdle.”
And like vulnerable incumbent Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., Begich has also resorted to invoking the so-called “war on women,” regularly accusing his Republican opponents of being anti-woman.
Obviously, this is a charge that the Sullivan campaign rejects.
“Mark Begich continues to run the same tired ‘war on women’ campaign straight out of Harry Reid’s playbook, but he can’t run from his failed record in Washington, D.C.,” Sullivan spokesman Thomas Reiker said.
The Alaska senator joins several Democratic lawmakers who have made it a point during this election cycle to disassociate themselves from the White House brand, assuring voters that they’re nothing like President Obama.
