DEMS WORRY OVER OBAMA APPEASEMENT – AT 10:06 A.M. ET:   Democrats are looking at the polls, and worrying that Obama's squishy anti-terror policies are dragging them down.  From The Hill: 

Democrats are increasingly fearful that President Obama’s handling of the threat from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is becoming a liability for their party.

Those fears have become more acute after Obama’s Sunday evening address from the Oval Office, where the president unveiled little by way of news or strategic shifts.

“Weak and unclear,” Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf told The Hill, when asked for his reaction to Obama’s remarks. “What is the plan of action?”

Sheinkopf added that, at this point, “any rational person would worry about his legacy, and any rational Democrat would worry about the Democrats being injured in an electoral setting.”

This vulnerability is all the more frustrating to Democrats because at one point during Obama’s presidency — the period immediately following the operation that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 — they believed that the party’s traditional disadvantage on issues of national security had been erased.

In a CNN/ORC poll shortly after the al Qaeda leader’s death, 65 percent of Americans approved of Obama’s handling of terrorism, against 34 percent who disapproved.

Obama enjoyed a similar rating on the issue at the beginning of his second term, which followed an election campaign during which his vice president, Joe Biden, had boiled down the case for reelection to the fact that America had become more prosperous and safe: “Bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.”

But the president’s poll ratings on terrorism began sliding soon afterward, and they have now been completely reversed from their high point.

In a CNN/ORC poll released last week, only 38 percent approved of his handling of terrorism, while 60 percent disapproved — the lowest mark of his presidency. Asked specifically about Obama’s approach to ISIS, 33 percent approved and 64 percent disapproved.

“If the president’s ratings are low, that’s always a problem for his party in elections,” said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon. “There is no getting around that.”

COMMENT:  Look for Hillary to "get tough" after she secures her nomination.  Right now she's running neck-and-neck, in poll matchups, with most of the GOP field. 

ISIS and Al Qaeda will also have a say in our elections.  Will they attack during the election campaign, inciting anger in the U.S. and further criticism of the Democratic administration?  Or will they lie low, hoping to drive terror down the priority list for American voters?  The election is 11 months away.

December 9, 2015