While some Democrats running for re-election are distancing themselves from President Barack Obama, Iowa's Bruce Braley is welcoming a visit from first lady Michelle Obama.
Obama is set to campaign with Braley, a Democrat who is locked in a tight battle against Republican Joni Ernst,
USA Today reports. The winner will succeed longtime Sen. Tom Harkin, who is retiring.
The Iowa visit is part of a slate of campaign appearances made by Michelle Obama, the
Des Moines Register said.
Obama's popularity remains solid, the paper added, noting favorability ratings remaining in the 60s while the president's own job approval ratings have dipped below 40 percent in recent polls.
The first lady, a forceful speaker on behalf of her husband's first presidential bid in 2008, kicked off her campaign trail stump speech on Monday in another competitive U.S. Senate race, in Georgia, where Michelle Nunn is battling Republican David Perdue,
CNN reported.
"The stakes this year couldn't be higher. If we don't show up in the polls this November, if we don't elect leaders in Congress and here in Georgia who put people first instead of fighting for special interests, we know exactly what will happen," Obama said.
"We will see more folks interfering in women's private decisions about our health care," she continued. "We'll see more folks denying that climate change even exists. We'll see more votes against equal pay and immigration reform and raising" the minimum wage.
Her help is no doubt welcome by Nunn, who is trailing Perdue 41 percent to 47 percent according to the most recent NYT/CBS/YouGov.com battleground states poll released Monday, the
Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.
In Iowa, Braley's opponent Ernst, a Republican state senator, has received campaign help from veteran John McCain, Roll Call noted.
“Congressman Braley and his Washington allies are running the most negative campaign Iowa has ever seen. But this time they’ve gone too far. Congressman Braley should do the right and decent thing and immediately condemn this disgusting attack,” McCain said, referring to a controversial mailer that tied Ernst to national security failures.
Braley leads Ernst by 4.8 percent, according to a Loras College poll released Monday, the
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.
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