Obama warns of reversal of progress if Republicans win

Associated Press

BRIDGEPORT, Conn.

President Barack Obama implored voters Saturday to resist a Republican tide, warning that if the GOP prevails in Tuesday’s midterm elections, all the progress of his first two years in office “can be rolled back.”

That would be just fine, said Rep. John Boehner, in line to become the new speaker if Republicans take the House, as expected. He declared, “Americans are demanding a new way forward in Washington.”

Embarking on a four-state weekend campaign dash, Obama acknowledged the difficulties Democrats face — the distinct chance of losing their comfortable majority in the House and possibly the Senate, as well as several governors’ seats.

All four weekend stops are in states Obama carried in 2008 — Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Illinois and Ohio. But Democratic candidates for the Senate, House and governorships are struggling in these places and elsewhere, and Obama is making a last-ditch plea for the party’s core supporters not to abandon them.

“It is difficult here in Pennsylvania; it is difficult all across the country,” Obama told several hundred campaign volunteers at Temple University in Philadelphia, a Democratic-leaning city he has visited often.

The weekend tour marks the president’s last campaign swing of the election season, with Republicans expecting big victories Tuesday. Obama’s sagging popularity has limited his ability to save Democratic candidates, and his legislative agenda may be deeply complicated if the GOP takes over the House, as many expect.

Unless Democratic voters turn out in big numbers, Obama said in a seven-minute talk, all the progress made in the past two years “can be rolled back.”

Several of Pennsylvania’s U.S. House Democrats are battling for survival, as is the Senate nominee, Joe Sestak.

Republicans expect to win the governor’s seat, as two-term Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell is term-limited.

Democratic prospects appear somewhat better in Connecticut, Obama’s second stop. The party has high hopes for Senate nominee Richard Blumenthal and gubernatorial candidate Dan Malloy, although neither race is considered in the bag.

But freshman Rep. Jim Himes faces a tough challenge from Republican Dan Debicella, and organizers allowed Himes to introduce Obama to loud applause from more than 9,000 people at the Bridgeport Arena.

Obama urged Democrats to “defy the conventional wisdom” that foresees huge GOP wins.

“There’s no doubt this is a tough election,” he said, “because we have been through an incredibly difficult time as a nation.”

In his two appearances, Obama did not mention the thwarted mail-bomb plot or the arrest in Yemen of a woman suspected of sending two mail bombs.

Obama planned an evening rally in Chicago, his hometown. He is to headline a final rally today at 1 p.m. at Cleveland State University before returning to Washington.