Election losses among top 10 worst moments, says Obama adviser

Tuesday night’s midterm election results ranked as one of the 10 worst moments for staffers in the Obama White House, senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Thursday.

“I don’t know if I can give it a specific ranking, but it’s pretty high up on the list,” Pfeiffer said during an interview with Bloomberg Politics.

“I’d put it in the top 10 for sure,” he added.

But, Pfeiffer said, the midterm results weren’t as upsetting as what President Obama described as a “shellacking” in the 2010 midterms, when Republicans won back control of the House.

{mosads}”It is better than the BP oil spill, better than the 2010 midterm,” Pfeiffer said.

The White House has mostly avoided conceding that Tuesday’s vote was concerning to it, instead answering questions about Democrats’ performance by saying voters were voicing general frustrations with Washington.

Earlier Thursday, press secretary Josh Earnest said he did not want “to pass judgement” on the elections, and joked he had a “sunny disposition.”

After chiding from reporters, Earnest allowed that he was “certainly disappointed in the outcome of the elections.”

Pfieffer was also asked during his Bloomberg interview if the White House had figured out what Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) drink of choice was after President Obama admitted he didn’t know in his post-election press conference Wednesday.

“It’s a safe assumption bourbon will be the drink of choice of any politician from Kentucky,” Pfeiffer said.

After being told that McConnell preferred his bourbon in a Manhattan — a cocktail that traditionally includes some type of fruit — Pfeiffer allowed a grin.

“If I had known a Manhattan was the cocktail of choice of Sen. McConnell, I suspect that might have been something the DSCC could have used in an ad,” Pfeiffer said, referring to the campaign committee of Senate Democrats.