By Steve Holland and Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and his Democrats face the challenge of limiting fallout from Obamacare and drumming up voter enthusiasm in the November congressional elections, problem areas exposed by the loss of a Florida candidate who had led in the polls.
The defeat of Democrat Alex Sink by Republican David Jolly in a special election last Tuesday has raised anxiety levels for Democrats as they struggle to hold on to control of the Senate in November and pick up seats in the Republican-held House of Representatives.
Paramount on the Democrats' list of concerns about November is the need to ensure that voters feel motivated to go to the polls. Obama won handily in presidential elections in 2008 and 2012, but Democrats lost control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections, when his name was not on the ballot.
The Florida race reflected turnout concerns, as Sink had been leading in the polls in the days ahead of the election. But the party did not get enough supporters to polling stations to take advantage.
"If we'd had better turnout, we would have won. It's that simple," said Democratic Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. "We need to think about how to energize our base."
