President Barack Obama will be all but absent from the Democratic campaign trail this midterm election season, appearing in just seven campaign rallies in blue-leaning states before election day Nov. 4.
Increasingly a political liability for his party, Obama will appear with just one Democratic candidate for the Senate, Gary Peters in Michigan, as his party struggles to hold onto a majority, a White House official said.
The president’s poll numbers are near historic lows, and in contested races, Democrats believe Obama’s endorsement would be a lead weight for their candidates. Republicans have run tens of millions in ads tying Democrats to Obama, as Democratic candidates have tried to argue their independence from him.
On Wednesday, Obama will travel to Connecticut to campaign alongside Gov. Dan Malloy, and on Saturday he will hold a rally with Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn in Chicago and in Maryland with gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov Anthony Brown. During the final full week of the campaign, Obama will hold rallies with Democratic gubernatorial candidates Mary Burke in Milwaukee, WI., Tom Wolf in Philadelphia, Mike Michaud in Portland, ME., and with Peters and gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer in the Detroit area.
Democratic governors may prove to be the bright note in an Election night forecast to be generally dismal for the party next month, with Republican odds of taking the Senate increasing and House Democrats preparing for a net loss of seats.
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