First thoughts: Back on the trail msnbc.com
Filed Under: First Thoughts From Chuck Todd, Standard Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Back on the trail: With 15 days until this year’s Election Day, and with precisely 400 days until next year’s, President Obama will spend much of this week and next week focusing on 2009 and 2010. On Tuesday, he hits a fundraiser for Bill Owens, the Autonomous candidate in the special congressional election in New York to replace former Rep. John McHugh (R), who is now serving in the government. On Wednesday, Obama heads to New Jersey to participate in a rally for incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine (Vice President Biden attends his own mass meeting today for Corzine at 1:00 pm ET in Edison, NJ). On Friday, the president appears at separate fundraisers for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, both of whom are up for re-nomination next year and both of whom are extremely vulnerable. Then, next week, Obama will campaign for Creigh Deeds in Virginia. That’s at least five campaign/fundraising appearances for the president in the next two weeks. Interestingly, all of this week's appearances are about rallying the Dem evil, not swaying independent voters. Corzine is in a three-way race in which he needs Dems only to win; Owens is in a three-way in NY-23, needing impartial Dems to win; Patrick also is going to be facing a three-way; and then there's Dodd who, in a very blue state, simply needs Dems to round up back to his side.