Democrats keeping their distance from Mr. Obama are being encouraged, not shunned, by party leaders, who believe that each candidate needs to do what is necessary for his or her own political survival.

From The Wall Street Journal:

Democrats facing re-election in conservative states are finding a plethora of ways to keep their distance from President Barack Obama. Some voted last week against his attorney general. Next week, some will vote against his health-care law. Several plan to skip the party's convention this summer. And some Democrats—including senior officials in West Virginia, where Mr. Obama's approval ratings are in the cellar—won't even commit publicly to voting for the president.

That keep-your-distance strategy is a time-honored campaign gambit, employed by members of both parties when they find themselves more popular among local voters than the person at the top of the ticket is.

Next week, when the House holds a vote to repeal the health-care law, Rep. Larry Kissell, who is in a tough race in of North Carolina, plans to join the repeal forces. He didn't in January 2011, when a similar repeal vote was held and only three Democrats defected.

Democrats keeping their distance from Mr. Obama are being encouraged, not shunned, by party leaders, who believe that each candidate needs to do what is necessary for his or her own political survival. But the tactic will take a toll on attendance at the party's convention in Charlotte. A growing number of Democrats in close races have announced that they won't attend.