It appears the Commander-in-Chief will be making a campaign stop in Pennsylvania soon.
Last month, we mentioned a Politico report that stated the White House was planning on sending the President to Pennsylvania. Now, a new report confirms this.
“Obama is also expected to show up in several other states with competitive governor’s races: Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois and, if the polls remain tight, Massachusetts,” according to Politico’s Edward-Isaac Dovere.
The Wolf campaign did not respond to PoliticsPA’s request for a comment.
The thrust of Politico’s report is that the President is confining his campaigning to blue states, specifically those with important Gubernatorial races as opposed to Senatorial ones.
“The White House is in the final stages of preparing a midterm campaign schedule for President Barack Obama through October that has only one color code: deep, deep blue,” is how Dovere put it.
This is largely due to the nature of the campaign map. The incumbent Senators were elected in 2008, a great year for Democrats where they picked off seats in red states. The incumbent Governors were elected in 2010, a great year for Republicans where they picked off seats in blue states. As a result, the latter map is much more favorable to the President.
While the President’s approval ratings are currently poor in Pennsylvania, Wolf’s advantage may be so strong that he doesn’t fear any negative effects.
This likelihood is increased by the fact that all the other states the President plans to visit are either deep blue or places where he has deep ties. Connecticut, Illinois, and Massachusetts are all very Democratic states (as are California and New York where the President will campaign for House races).
The only tossup gubernatorial race where the President will be campaigning in is Florida. There the Democratic nominee is Charlie Crist, a former Republican whose party switch was triggered by heavy criticism for hugging (figuratively and literally) the President. The only Senate race Pres. Obama will campaign in is Michigan, a state greatly benefitted by the auto rescue.
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6 Responses
There are huge stakes in Montgomery County for Gerlach’s replacement, and also moving the legislature to give Wolf support he will need. The US Congress can end up with an exceptional civil servant/MD/veteran or a very self-absorbed politician depending on who votes. PLEASE VOTE.
prsdent obam aint got no reson to think he gonna help john wolfe become goevnor cuz that aint gonna be happening cuz in penna the way it work is like this, each party gets to be guv for 8 yrs and then the other party get to be guv for 8 yrs is way it work in penn.,
I want a President who is optimizing his limited time on the campaign trail. PA doesn’t seem to me to fit the bill this cycle.
Do you want a President that gives a dam or don’t you want a President that gives a dam? THAT is what everybody SHOULD be ‘getting’.
Turnout!
I have to admit I don’t get this. Wolf is up by a gajillion points and there’s nothing else in the state that’s competitive (unless we’re still pretending about PA-6), so there’s no need to rally the base. Why risk the negative effects?