'RUDDERLESS SHIP': Democrats Are Blaming The White House For Their Crushing Defeat
"This is a tsunami. Heads will roll at 1600. And if they don't, shame," one Democratic operative told Business Insider. "The president has 60 days to clean house, regrow his spine, and lay out an aggressive, centrist agenda. If he fails at any of those, he might as well just start writing his memoir."
Republicans had been expected to have a good Election Day, but most forecasters predicted more modest GOP gains. When the returns finally started to come in, the Democrats ultimately lost almost every important race they had targeted in the Senate - where they will lose their majority - and the party was crushed in gubernatorial and House contests in even left-leaning electorates.
A national Democratic operative told Business Insider that there was simply no way to sugarcoat the defeat for President Barack Obama.
"Democratic operatives who refuse to acknowledge this is the White House's fault are out of their fucking minds," the operative said. "These operatives who don't understand that the White House f--ked up are the same hacks who overcharge House and Senate candidates for sh--ty consulting work and help lose elections year after year."
The insider accused Obama of projecting a "rudderless ship" message on issues ranging from the Islamic State jihadists, to the Ebola virus, to immigration, where Obama failed to act on his vow to enact reform via executive action last summer.
At least some immigration activists also blamed the electoral blowout on Obama's "broken promises" on the executive action issue. The White House announced in September it would miss its self-imposed summer deadline until after the midterm elections, when the politics would allegedly provide a more favorable environment.
"Bad politics have consequences. Prioritizing senate seats over keeping families together was bad politics," Erika Andiola and Cesar Vargas, leaders of the immigration reform group Dream Action Coalition, said in a statement. "Tonight, when the Democrats were hoping to keep the Senate despite the President's delay on immigration, we saw Latino voters rebuke Democrats at the polls, either opting to stay home or voting for another party."
The White House announced Wednesday morning that the president will hold a press conference later in the day.
Additional reporting by Hunter Walker and Brett LoGiurato.