The Democrat who is in charge of helping to get fellow Democrats elected to the House of Representatives has urged the candidates in his party to not attend the national convention later this summer.

Rep. Steve Israel a New York Democrat and chairman of the DCCC or Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee advised his party members of this in Washington on Tuesday. Israel said in order to win, the candidates had to be in their individual districts and going out to visit their constituents. His comment follows decisions taken by several Democrats in tight congressional races to skip the national convention scheduled for September in North Carolina.

He said it would be interesting to go to North Carolina, but it was more important to remain in your districts. He said the approval ratings of the President did not have any influence on his guidance, as the prior DCCC head recommended the same thing to Democrat candidates in the 2008 election.

Many Democrats have already ruled out attending. In Missouri, Senator Claire McCaskill is facing a difficult re-election and was among candidates who decided not to go to the convention. She joined a growing number of candidates who are skittish about being in Charlotte, which will be the party’s biggest tribute to President Obama since his inauguration in January of 2009.

Senator Joe Manchin, Representative Nick Rahall and Governor Earl Ray Tomblin all of West Virginia are in the same situation. In West Virginia, 41% of the vote in a Democratic primary was won by a federal inmate against Obama. Also not attending are several lawmakers from the state of Pennsylvania.