President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Michigan in the last full week of the campaign season later this month. Following his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state, Obama will promote Democratic hopefuls.
Obama will also campaign for gubernatorial candidates that week in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Maine, a White House official told the Associated Press Wednesday morning.
Polls show that incumbent Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is leading his Democratic challenger Mark Schauer by an average of 3.5 points. Democrats have an edge in the U.S. Senate race, where U.S. Rep. Gary Peters (D–Detroit) leads Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land by nine points.
Peters is the only senatorial candidate Obama will campaign for, and Peters is also the only Senate nominee that has requested an appearance with the president. Meanwhile, Michelle Obama, former Pres. Bill Clinton and other Democratic figures have campaigned for a range of candidates across the nation for November’s midterm election.
Candidates are likely distancing themselves from the president due to his plunging approval rates. Wednesday, an ABC News/Washington Post poll reflected that 40 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s job performance — an all-time low since the president took office in 2009. Forty-four percent of Americans approve of his handling of the economy, while 35 percent approve of his handling of the threat of ISIL.
Political Science Prof. Michael Traugott said in an interview last week with The Michigan Daily that Obama’s visit benefits the candidates differently. Peters’ lead in the polls could buffer negative pushback for appearing with the unpopular Commander in Chief, and the two politicians support similar issues, including the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler.
Peters made a point to boost Obama last Friday as he discussed the auto bailout — a decision some Michigan Republicans did not support.
“Thank god President Obama was there,” Peters said on Friday.
Meanwhile, a visit from the President could boost voter turnout for Schauer’s campaign. Democratic voter turnout for midterm elections is often lower than in a presidential election, so encouragement from Obama to get to the polls could bolster Schauer’s position in the gubernatorial race.
“For Schauer, (Obama is) probably going to spend his time talking about turnout,” Traugott said last week. “In a tight race, that’s what each candidate is interested in.”
The White House also announced today that the president would postpone campaign stops scheduled for this afternoon to hold meetings with Cabinet members about the government’s response to the Ebola outbreak.