President Barack Obama's approval rating is the highest it has been in 45 months, and Republicans have taken note.
In Ohio, Sen. Rob Portman is running an adboasting of his work with the Democratic commander-in-chief "to break the grip of heroin addiction." In California, Rep. Darrell Issa—who once called Obama "one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times"—is sending out mailers with Obama's face on them, touting his work with the president "to protect victims of sexual assault."How scared is an unpopular Issa that Doug Applegate will beat him? Scared enough to use a photo of Obama on a mailer pic.twitter.com/DqXUGStSZs— Howie Klein (@downwithtyranny) October 24, 2016
There is a problem with that strategy, though, which is that Obama seems determined to spend the last two weeks of the election laying waste to every Republican who ever crossed him. Though Obama was a liability to Democrats in the 2014 midterms, his renewed popularity has made him the most sought-after advocate for Hillary Clinton and downballot Democrats this fall. At rallies and in fundraisers in battleground states and swing districts, Obama has ripped into Republican lawmakers with a mix of exasperation and disdain, mocking their belated rejection (or continued support) of Donald Trump and casting the GOP presidential nominee as the logical endpoint of eight years of toxic hostility.
Issa, who is facing his most competitive race in years, was the most recent Republican to feel his wrath. At a fundraiser in La Jolla on Sunday, Obama trashedthe California Republican for his mailer. "Issa's primary contribution to the United States Congress has been to obstruct and to waste taxpayer dollars on trumped-up investigations that have led nowhere," he said. "This is now a guy who, because poll numbers are bad, has sent out brochures with my picture on them touting his cooperation on issues with me. Now that is the definition of chutzpah."
Earlier on Sunday, while campaigning in Las Vegas for senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto, Obama attacked her opponent, Republican Rep. Joe Heck, for renouncing Trump only after a tape surfaced of the nominee bragging about sexual assault. "Catherine's been a national leader in the fight against sex trafficking of teenage girls and violence against women and passed laws to make sure the penalties are tougher for predators, expanded sex-offender registries, gave victims the right to sue their captors—and the other guy supported Donald Trump," Obama said.
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