Re:

Like a shyster targeting the elderly while selling snake oil

On Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 7:29 PM, Tommy News <tommysnews@gmail.com> wrote:

Obama targets key groups in election's homestretch
(AP) – 5 hours ago

CLEVELAND (AP) — Heading into the homestretch of the midterm
elections, President Barack Obama is targeting key Democratic
constituencies as he tries to energize voters and build up Election
Day turnout among his supporters.

The groups Obama is targeting mirror those that helped him win the
White House: young people, African-Americans and women. A crucial
element of the president's strategy in the two weeks before the Nov. 2
election is finding a way to get first-time voters from 2008 to head
back to the polls even though Obama's name isn't on the ballot.

Obama isn't shying away from reality: The sputtering economy has
created a tough political environment for Democratic candidates.

"When times are that difficult, elections are going to be difficult
and understandably so," Obama said Sunday while speaking at a
fundraiser for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland at a private home outside
Cleveland.

Obama was joined at the fundraiser by first lady Michelle Obama. From
Cleveland, the Obamas were to travel to Columbus to headline a large
nighttime rally on the campus of Ohio State University.

The president and first lady have campaigned individually for
Democratic candidates in the final weeks before the midterms, but
Sunday marked the first time the Obamas had campaigned together since
the presidential election.

Sunday's rally at Ohio State is one of five the president was
scheduled to attend ahead of Election Day, all designed to remind the
Democratic base of the enthusiasm Obama inspired during his
presidential campaign.

The five rallies are all in states Obama won during his presidential
bid, and all in states with competitive midterm races: Wisconsin,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, California and Nevada. Though Democratic officials
say the president is casting a wide net and trying to reach the whole
of the Democratic party, some rallies do target specific
constituencies.

In Madison, Wis., late last month, Obama targeted young voters at the
University of Wisconsin. Officials hoped last week's rally in
Philadelphia reached African-Americans, many of whom came to the polls
for the first time in 2008 to support Obama. Democratic candidates
like Pennsylvania Senate hopeful Joe Sestak need high turnout in urban
areas like Philadelphia if they're to overcome stiff Republican
opposition.

At an event Thursday in Seattle, Obama will focus on how the economic
crisis has affected women. White House deputy communications director
Jen Psaki said Obama will argue that women who may have benefited from
administration initiatives like the small business lending program
would suffer under Republican leadership.

Obama is also using backyard meetings and televised town halls,
including one broadcast on MTV, BET and CMT last week.

White House officials insist the president's coast-to-coast
campaigning is making a difference.

"There's an excitement about what this president is trying to do.
There's an energy around it," Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Sunday
on NBC's "Meet the Press."

But polls suggest Obama's winning coalition from 2008 is crumbling.
About one-quarter of those who voted for Obama are voting Republican
in November or are considering doing so, according to an Associated
Press-Knowledge Networks poll.

Equally as dispiriting for the White House: Just half of Obama voters
say they'll definitely show up to vote Nov. 2, while two-thirds of
those who voted for Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential
election say they're certain to vote.

Democratic officials say the president is still the best messenger to
encourage his party to get to the polls. Following three straight days
of events in Delaware, Massachusetts and Ohio, Obama heads West for
stops in Portland, Ore., on Wednesday, Seattle and San Francisco on
Thursday, Los Angeles and Las Vegas on Friday and Minneapolis on
Saturday.

Obama probably will spend Election Day in the nation's capital, and
has requested an absentee ballot to vote in his home state of
Illinois.

More:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i7ygHyfQH2hIi6PDF8nnX7ynEz3Q?docId=5e1896ef435f43b8ae22121bafa86fc2

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Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

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* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.