Dem Strategist: Obama's Climate Plan Puts Candidates 'in Front of the Firing Squad'

As if worry about what Obama might do regarding illegal immigration wasn’t enough, vulnerable Democrats now have an entirely new concern.

The Obama administration is reportedly negotiating a deal to try and lower greenhouse gas emissions by “naming and shaming” governments that don’t buckle to their demands.

The State Department on Wednesday denied a report in The New York Times that the plan is to come up with a treaty that would not require Senate confirmation, but that appeared to provide cold comfort to Democrats worried the issue will revive GOP cries about an imperial Obama presidency.

A Democrat strategist speaking to The Hill likened it to putting swing state Democrats “in front of the firing squad,” adding, “You’re … making it more difficult for them to win and certainty putting them in a position to lose.”

Vulnerable Democrats already in the cross-hairs on immigration were quick to try and put distance between themselves and an already widely unpopular White House. However, their fear that Barack Obama may put his own progressive legacy over their party’s fate in the mid-term elections is real and ongoing. 

Senate Energy Committee Chairwoman Mary Landrieu (La.) cautiously signaled support for the oil and gas industry that is important to her state, without commenting on the plan to sidestep the Senate.

 “It is important that all nations do what they can to reduce carbon in the atmosphere,” she said. “But the president should not take any action that undermines the American energy revolution currently underway that is creating thousands of high-paying jobs for middle class families in Louisiana and across the country.”