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President Joe Biden flew west on Thursday to try and support Democratic candidates in states he won two years ago, while Republicans gained momentum in battlefield races like Pennsylvania.
The president will be in New Mexico to campaign for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has pulled her GOP opponent after polls showed her on shaky ground last week.
He then goes to California to campaign for Rep. Mike Levin in San Diego. And he’s making a stop in Chicago with a focus on encouraging established congressmen in the Chicago suburbs — Representatives Sean Casten, Lauren Underwood and Bill Foster — who are in races that may be getting tighter.
Biden is making one last-ditch effort to rally Democrats as election forecasters predict Republicans will gain control of the House in next Tuesday’s election. And the battle for control of the Senate is heating up.
But most Democratic candidates have kept the president at bay for fear that his low ratings and voter anger at his stewardship of the economy could backfire on them.
The White House insists the president is “traveling around the country” and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre argued Thursday that his message extends beyond where he speaks.
“When the president speaks, it’s widely reported,” she told Air Force One reporters during the flight West.
President Joe Biden flew west to campaign in the blue areas of New Mexico and California
In Pennsylvania, a pivotal state, Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz surpassed Democratic candidate John Fetterman for the first time in the polls.
The two-point gap — 48% to 46% — shows steady improvement for Oz, whose support from likely Pennsylvania voters has increased 5 points since September. according to The Hill/Emerson College polls.
Biden will be in Philadelphia on Saturday — along with Barack Obama — to campaign for Fetterman.
But the president will not appear in other states with exciting competitions, including Nevada and Georgia.
Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto finds herself in a neck-and-neck race to fight for her political life. Obama came into the state on Tuesday to try to woo Democrats her way.
The Georgia Senate race is also a nail-biter, but neither incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock nor Republican candidate Herschel Walker have a poll above 50%. State law requires candidates to win a majority of the vote to win an election; if no one does, the top two finishers advance to a second round.
With the Senate currently sitting at 50-50 — and giving Vice President Kamala Harris the casting vote — any race could decide which party is in the majority next year.
New Pennsylvania poll shows Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz (right) leading Democrat John Fetterman (left) in their Senate race
The president’s party typically suffers significant losses during midterm elections. Since 1934, only Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934, Bill Clinton in 1998, and George W. Bush in 2002 saw their parties win seats in the midterm elections.
Biden, Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris and First Lady Jill Biden are on the campaign trail with five days left until the midterm elections.
They try to rally their base to get out and vote. “Vote, vote, vote” is the mantra Biden uses to conclude his campaign pitch.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, will set out to rally the Republicans. He will do four rallies in five days, hitting the battlefields of Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.
Polls show that the economy remains a major concern for American voters.
More than half say the price of gas and consumer goods is the economic issue that worries them most in a new national poll from Quinnipiac University.
President Biden will campaign for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (above) in New Mexico
In New Mexico, however, Biden will focus on student debt.
He will talk about his administration’s efforts to “cut college costs and provide extra breathing room” for student borrowers, a White House official said, while also warning of “disastrous consequences for American middle-class families if Republican officials succeed in their plan.” to rob tens of millions of borrowers of their ability to get debt relief.”
Republicans claim Biden’s plan is too expensive and have filed a lawsuit to stop it.
According to the White House, nearly 26 million people have submitted their information to the Department of Education to qualify for loan waivers, and 16 million applications are expected to be approved by the end of the week.