Xinhua published an article stating that, in the upcoming mid-term election in the U.S., Obama is in trouble. The article suggested that playing the China card can help him get out of trouble. It reported that recent polls, conducted one month before the mid-term election, showed that Obama’s public support was 43 percent, far below the 75-year average of 53 percent. "According to a New York Times report, Obama’s low public support makes him a ‘negative asset’ for the Democrats. Many Democratic candidates in swing states have clearly rejected his help in their campaigns, including Iowa, where Obama started his political life."
The article predicted that Republicans will continue to hold the majority of the House but Democrats may lose the Senate. If that happens, "President Obama will become a complete ‘lame duck.’" Then Obama will not be able to achieve much in the next two years, which is likely to burst the Democrats’ dream of keeping the White House in 2016.
Obama’s domestic challenges include the fact that the living standard for the average American has gone down and he has only done a lot of talking about the immigration reform issue. In international affairs, such as the Ukraine crisis, the wars in the Islamic world, and the outbreak of Ebola, Obama’s reaction has been "slow, weak, and ineffective." "His actions have also given the international community a reason to talk about the ‘Decline of the U.S.’"
The article claimed that Sino-U.S. relations are something that Obama can use to improve his international performance.
Source: Xinhua, October 14, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2014-10/14/c_1112809159.htm