UNHEALTHY POLITICS – AT 10:41 A.M. ET:  The Democratic Party divides the American public into ethnic- and interest groups.  We're not Americans, we're hyphenated Americans, to the Dems.  There is a price to be paid for this cynical practice of politics.  From The New York Times: 

WASHINGTON — The confidential memo from a former pollster for President Obama contained a blunt warning for Democrats. Written this month with an eye toward Election Day, it predicted “crushing Democratic losses across the country” if the party did not do more to get black voters to the polls.

“African-American surge voters came out in force in 2008 and 2012, but they are not well positioned to do so again in 2014,” Cornell Belcher, the pollster, wrote in the memo, dated Oct. 1. “In fact, over half aren’t even sure when the midterm elections are taking place.”

Mr. Belcher’s assessment points to an urgent imperative for Democrats: To keep Republicans from taking control of the Senate, as many are predicting, they need black voters in at least four key states. Yet the one politician guaranteed to generate enthusiasm among African Americans is the same man many Democratic candidates want to avoid: Mr. Obama.

Now, Democrats are deploying other prominent black elected officials and other surrogates, buttressed by sophisticated voter targeting efforts, to stoke black turnout. At the White House, the president is waging an under-the-radar campaign, recording video advertisements, radio interviews and telephone calls specifically targeting his loyal African-American base.

COMMENT:  What a sad commentary.  The fact is that the Democratic Party can't win a national election without the black vote.  African Americans are the most loyal bloc in the party, sometimes giving as much as 95% of their vote to Dem candidates.  And what have they gotten back?  Maybe it's time for them to ask.

The problem for us is that scare campaigns within minority communities often work.  This election is by no means won.  Candidates in many key races are separated by only a few points.  If the Dems can bring out their "loyal" voters, and if Republicans don't run an effective ground game, we can find on election night that we still have a Democratic Senate.

October 19,  2014