Democrats Push for Shake-up at White House

Democrats hope to see a drastic change in White House staffing in hopes of saving the presidency of Barack Obama, The Hill Reports.

Presidents typically announce staff changes halfway through their second terms, but with Obama's poll numbers in the cellar and his agenda facing a bleak outlook as Republicans aim to control both houses of Congress, critics within his own party are calling for change.

The Hill quoted a "prominent party strategist" as saying Obama "should take a flamethrower to his office."

To say that Obama needs a dramatic change isn't debatable, the strategist said.

"The general consensus that the president is surrounded by people who do him more harm than good because they are more focused on pleasing him than they are challenging him or proposing a different course," the person told The Hill.

The loss of former strategists David Plouffe and David Axelrod left a big hole, Democratic strategist Peter Fenn said, explaining that both were able to challenge Obama.

"And those guys could, they could speak really frankly to him," Fenn told The Hill. "How does he put people in the White House with serious political chops?"

Even if he did, Obama might not listen.

Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and Vice President Joe Biden both have sway on Capitol Hill, but Obama himself is loathe to engage.

Obama is "very slow to get rid of people regardless of the circumstances," said John Hudak of the Brookings Institution.

"If staffers close to the president haven’t been ousted yet, they’re likely not going anywhere unless there is additional policy failures," Hudak said.

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