With key elections looming, President Obama is increasingly lending himself to Democratic political efforts — but his limited coattails and the nation’s restive mood are curtailing his role as campaign asset.
At a lunchtime fundraiser for the Democratic Governors Association, Obama touted his administration’s efforts to stabilize state economies, while conceding ahead of the release of a new employment report that job creation remains elusive.
“I’m not going to rest, I know the governors and candidates here today are not going to rest, and I know that the American people are not going to rest until everybody who’s looking for work can find a job,” Obama said.
With a job approval rating around 50 percent, Obama’s most effective political efforts this year could be in raising money. But with much at stake, his administration is finding other ways to get involved.
In addition to campaigning for Democrats in high-profile gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, the White House recently injected itself into the 2010 New York governor’s race, stoking controversy by urging Democratic Gov. David Paterson to step aside for a stronger contender.
On Nov. 3, along with the bellwether votes in Virginia and New Jersey, there’s a special election in New York to replace former Democratic Rep. John McHugh, who stepped down to serve as secretary of the Army. The White House is closely watching the punchy, three-way race in a district Obama carried with 52 percent last year.
In Colorado, Democrats are facing an unexpected primary battle in the race to fill the Senate seat vacated by Ken Salazar, who became Obama’s secretary of the interior. Sen. Michael Bennet, who was appointed to fill out Salazar’s term, will face Andrew Romanoff, a former state lawmaker, in a vote next year.
The Denver Post reported that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina offered Romanoff a job in the administration, to clear the way for Bennet — a claim the White House denies.
At issue in Colorado, like many other contests this year, are the prospects for weakening Democratic candidates and posting key electoral losses ahead of the 2010 midterm elections.
“The reason everybody looks at these races is because they could show us what is going to happen in the midterms,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political scientist at the University of Central Florida. “Especially in the statewide races — there are some national implications to be read from the state tea leaves.”
The latest poll in Virginia shows Republican Bob McDonnell 9 percentage points ahead of Democrat Creigh Deeds. In New Jersey, incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine has pulled within 3 percentage points of Republican Chris Christie.
Despite Obama’s involvement in state and congressional races, his administration’s political operation so far appears more low-key than that of former President George W. Bush, said Stephen Hess, a presidential scholar at the Brookings Institution.
Hess credited Obama with running a restrained political shop, noting the Bush administration got deeper into Republican strategy.
“If I called it superficial I would mean only that it’s elevated,” Hess said.
