White House to election-year Democrats: Don’t blame Obama

President Obama is not to blame for what ails Democrats at the polls — that’s the word from White House press secretary Josh Earnest to vulnerable candidates who are fleeing the commander-in-chief’s presence.

“The success of many of these Democratic candidates will depend on their own success in motivating voters that strongly supported the president in 2012,” Mr. Earnest said. “Ultimately, those Democratic candidates will have to develop their own strategies in their states for figuring out how exactly to do that.”

Mr. Earnest said that ultimately, Democrats need to...