President Obama has a three day, four state campaign swing this week, trying to motivate Democratic voters and turn around his party's fortunes over the next five weeks until Election Day.
Stop number one is in New Mexico on Tuesday, which has been trending more into the Blue Column in recent years, but has some challenging races for Democrats, who control just about everything from Governor to all three U.S. House seats.
One member of the House from New Mexico does seem to be in trouble this election year, as Rep. Harry Teague is being challenged by former Rep. Steve Pearce (R).
Also close is the Governor's race, where Republicans may have a slight edge, as Gov. Bill Richardson is term-limited and cannot run for re-election.
Vice President Biden will also be on the road, as today he is in Manchester, New Hampshire, where Democrats could be on the wrong end of the electoral stick, save for the Governor's race.
Mr. Obama's travels this week will also take him to Wisconsin, Iowa and Virginia. Each one of those states are flashing red for a number of different reasons, especially in the race for control of the House and Senate.
Looking at the numbers right now for the elections reminds me of 2008, when Democrats had a huge turnout and Independent voters went dramatically to the Democratic side of the ledger.
Just as those ingredients helped Democrats win a number of seats in the Congress, it is helping Republicans put pressure on Democrats in seats that no one imagined would be competitive.
One example of that is in West Virginia, where many had assumed that Gov. Joe Manchin (D) would win easily in the special election to fill the seat of the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV).
But now, Republicans are pouring in as much as $1 million for TV ads, accusing Manchin of being a big-spending, big government liberal supporter, as one poll last week showed Manchin behind by three points.
Obama lost West Virginia in 2008, as Sen. John McCain won that state by an easy 56-43% margin. Maybe it is fertile territory this time for the GOP.
Five weeks and one day to go.
President Obama has a three day, four state campaign swing this week, trying to motivate Democratic voters and turn around his party's fortunes over the next five weeks until Election Day. Stop number one is in New Mexico on Tuesday, which has been trending more into the Blue Column in ...
