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President Obama on Monday handed Republicans a ready-made sound bite to use against endangered Democratic Senate candidates. Was this an avoidable gaffe?

Maybe, maybe not. Mr. Obama only said something most political pros already believe.

But first, the back story: Obama appeared yesterday on Al Sharpton鈥檚 radio show. His primary purpose was to try and increase turnout and political excitement among Mr. Sharpton鈥檚 audience, which is minority-oriented.

Obama said he understood the position of Democrats in red or swing states who don鈥檛 want him to show up for personal campaigning. That doesn鈥檛 hurt his feelings, said the president, because he understands how the world works and figures those folks are strong supporters anyway.

鈥淭he bottom line is, though, these are all folks who vote with me,鈥� . 鈥淭hey have supported my agenda in Congress.鈥�

That slapping sound you hear is Democratic campaign consultants from Louisiana to North Carolina hitting their own heads in frustration. This line is tailor-made for Republican campaign ads that aim to tie Democrats as tightly as possible to an unpopular president.

And the GOP is properly thankful for the gift.

鈥淧resident Obama handed another useful sound bite to Republicans for the last few weeks of the campaign season,鈥� .

As Mr. Brennan points out, this isn鈥檛 the first time this has happened. Several weeks ago, speaking at Northwestern University, Obama said that it was true his policies were on the ballot, 鈥渆very single one of them."

Former White House political adviser David Axelrod said that comment was a mistake. He鈥檇 probably say that goes double for yesterday鈥檚 slip.

鈥淲hile Obama鈥檚 previous comment suggested the election was indeed something of a referendum on him, these comments suggest not only that, but that Democratic candidates are actually on-board with him 鈥� something most of them have made pains to argue is not the case,鈥�

But will this actually make an electoral difference? We鈥檇 argue it won鈥檛.

The vast majority of gaffes, slips, revelations, and other news bits counted as 鈥済ame-changers鈥� change nothing. For the most part, voters make up their minds due to fundamentals such as the general state of the nation, how they feel about the parties as a whole, and so forth. In that context, Obama鈥檚 unpopularity is baked in the cake. Republican candidates have been trying to connect Democratic foes with an unpopular president聽in lots of ads in every contested race in America, for months.

And as we noted yesterday, the GOP is already well-poised to take control of the Senate in November. Many of those swing and red state races are tipping to the Republicans. Louisiana, Kentucky, Alaska, Colorado, and Iowa all fall into this category. Only North Carolina is running against this trend, as incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan (D) has battled to a narrow poll lead.

And as we said up top, Obama was only telling the truth. In today鈥檚 polarized political Washington, party ID is a powerful predictor of how a lawmaker will vote.

鈥淎lmost all Democrats in Congress ... vote with their party the vast majority of the time,鈥� writes Mr. Blake in The Fix.

And vice versa. Republicans vote with House Speaker John Boehner and minority leader Mitch McConnell 鈥� who stands a good chance of becoming majority leader Mitch McConnell in the next Congress.