Democrat Creigh Deeds is increasingly portraying himself as fiercely independent of top White House policy goals while embracing President Obama’s star power and loyal supporters in a last-ditch effort to construct a winning coalition for next week’s election.

Deeds, a rural state senator trailing in his bid for Virginia governor, has staked his hopes for a victory on re-creating at least some of the enthusiasm generated last year by Obama’s campaign. But fear of alienating independents and conservative Democrats has led him to publicly stray from the president’s proposals on the environment and health care.