OH DEAR, OH DEAR, WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE? – AT 8:13 A.M. ET:  A funny thing happened to President Obama in the Arkansas primary yesterday.  He got only 60% of the vote, against an obscure Tennessee lawyer.  And there was a bit of bother in Kentucky as well.

And political observers are taking the embarrassment very seriously.  From WaPo:

With 61 percent of precincts reporting in Arkansas, Obama took 60 percent to 40 percent for Wolfe. In Kentucky, with nearly all precincts reporting, 42.1 percent of Democratic primary voters opted for “uncommitted” rather than backing the president, who received 57.9 percent.

Those results come two weeks to the day after Keith Judd, a convicted felon incarcerated in Texas, won 41 percent of the vote against Obama in the West Virginia primary.

And...

...although no one doubts that race may be a factor, exit polling suggests that the opposition to Obama goes beyond it.

And seasoned political observers who have studied the politics of these areas say race may be less of a problem for Obama than the broader cultural disconnect that many of these voters feel with the Democratic Party.

“Race is definitely a factor for some Texans but not the majority,” said former congressman Charles W. Stenholm (D-Tex.). “The most significant factor is the perception/reality that the Obama administration has leaned toward the ultra-left viewpoint on almost all issues.”

COMMENT:  The message is being sent.  The Democratic Party, which is headquartered today in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, the District of Columbia, and in certain precincts of Massachusetts, is not the Democratic Party of great memory.  FDR, Truman and Jack Kennedy couldn't get nominated today.  Indeed, Truman and Kennedy might not even be Democrats.  Toward the end of his life, the great Henry Jackson of Washington, "Mr. National Defense," was ignored and ridiculed by a good chunk of his own party.

The sad fact, though, is that Obama knows how to sound moderate at election time.  He may fool enough of the people enough of the time to remain in office, and do enormous damage.

May 23,    2012