President Barack Obama is hoping to send a wake-up call to “sleepy” Democrats this November.
Obama called out his party for what he says it’s lacking during midterm elections.
“It’s something about midterms. I don’t know what it is about us. We get a little sleepy, we get a little distracted. We don’t turn out to vote. We don’t fund campaigns as passionately,” the president said during a Democratic fundraiser in Virginia on Tuesday night.
“That has to change and has got to change right here, because too much is at stake for us to let this opportunity slip by,” Obama added.
As the 2014 election season got underway with Tuesday’s Texas primaries, Democrats are hoping to hold on to their slim majority in the Senate and attempt to pick up 17 GOP-held seats to win back control of the House of Representatives, which Republicans won during the 2010 midterm elections.
“The last time we had a midterm in a very difficult situation is we were right at the very trough of the recession,” Obama said. “We paid a dear price for not paying enough attention to these midterm elections.”
This is not the first time the President has made this criticism toward Democrats.
While addressing the Democratic Governors Association last month, he referred to the lack of voter turnout as a result of the midterm elections not being seen as “sexy” as national contests.
"We know how to win national elections, but all too often, it's during these midterms where we end up getting ourselves into trouble, because I guess we don't think it's sexy enough," Obama said.