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Obama warns donors Democrats could lose Senate races they lead in polls

At a DSCC fundraiser in Virginia on Wednesday, former President Barack Obama told donors that Democratic poll leads are no guarantee and that races could slip away by about two points. The event raised $3.6 million.

2 outlets · 1L · 0C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: Breitbart
Image: ABC News

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The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Former President Barack Obama told donors at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) fireside chat in Virginia on Wednesday that Democrats could lose races in which polls show them ahead. Mixed · 2Speaking alongside Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), a DSCC vice chair, he said: "All these races that are showing we've got a two- or three-point lead or it's a toss-up, we could end up losing all of them by two points." Left · 1ABC News reported that he described the outcome as "on the razor's edge".

Mixed · 2Obama said some states are in play that he would not have imagined, citing Texas, where polling shows James Talarico ahead of Ken Paxton, along with Kansas, Nebraska and Sen. Jon Ossoff's lead in Georgia. Right · 1Citing the Washington Post, Breitbart reported that Obama also said taking the Senate matters for the judiciary, warning that two more years of Trump "acting with impunity" with more judicial appointments would pose a "very serious danger to democracy"; he called the judiciary "bent but not broken". Mixed · 2He defended the Democratic "big tent", joking that leading the party is "a pain in the butt" given its range of views, and said he would campaign in Michigan for Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive, because backing a higher minimum wage and healthcare for all "doesn't seem crazy".

Mixed · 2The event raised about $3.6 million, according to the DSCC as cited by Breitbart and Obama's office as cited by ABC, which said this brings his total for party committees this cycle to $13.6 million. Left · 1ABC News said Obama is sharply increasing his midterm role: recent ads or endorsement videos for Josh Shapiro, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Deb Haaland, David Crowley, Ossoff and Troy Jackson, a new six-figure DNC digital ad buy, and an Austin appearance with Talarico and Gina Hinojosa. Left · 1ABC also cited a mid-September NBC News poll in which 43% said they would be more likely to vote for an Obama-endorsed candidate and 37% less likely, versus 30% and 52% for a Trump endorsement.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
ABC News frames the story as Obama's expanding midterm role, with the warning as one part of a broader fundraising, advertising and campaigning push.
Emphasis
His $13.6 million total, ads and endorsements, upcoming Michigan stop, the big-tent defence and the NBC poll on endorsements.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not report his remarks on the judiciary and democracy.
Charged language
“on the razor's edge”“most in-demand surrogate”
For example
“Obama remains the party's most in-demand surrogate and his expanding schedule signals how much Democrats are counting on him” — ABC News

Centre0 outlets

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right1 outlet

Framing
Breitbart presents the remarks as an admission that Democrats risk complacency, and uses them to highlight how unlikely some Democratic poll leads are.
Emphasis
The Talarico-Paxton polling, Obama's judiciary and democracy warning, and divisions between socialists and establishment Democrats.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention his $13.6 million total, the ad campaign or his Michigan campaign plans.
Charged language
“far-left Methodist pastor”“far-left socialists”“carte blanche”
For example
“far-left Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton, who made waves for preaching that the Bible is full of errors” — Breitbart