Hillary Clinton stumps for Alison Lundergan Grimes as Democrats court women
Washington Their grip on the Senate majority slipping, anxious Democrats are aggressively courting female voters on the final weekend of a midterm campaign that will decide the balance of power in Washington and statehouses during President Barack Obama's final years in office.
Republicans already have begun to outline plans for a GOP-controlled Congress even as polls suggest that more than a half dozen Senate contests are considered tossups.
Obama used his last radio and Internet address before Tuesday's election to seek support from women, who are expected to play a pivotal role in races from New Hampshire to Iowa.
"When women succeed, America succeeds," the president said, using "women" 15 times. "And we should be choosing policies that benefit women because that benefits all of us."
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, facing a challenge from Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky, struck a bipartisan tone as he pledged in the GOP's weekly address that his party would "bring the current legislative gridlock to a merciful end."
"We want to engage members from both parties in the legislative process, to get our democracy working again the way it was designed, McConnell said. He predicted that Republicans would "be able to work with the president to ensure solid, pro-middle class ideas are signed into law."
The election three days away will decide control of the Senate, the House and 36 governors' seats.
The Senate contests could dramatically shape the final two years of Obama's presidency. The GOP already controls the House and must gain at least six seats for a Senate majority in the Congress that convenes in January.
Republicans appear certain of at least three new seats in West Virginia, Montana and South Dakota. There are nine other competitive races, including six for seats currently in Democratic hands.
One is New Hampshire, where Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is trying to win a second term and facing a strong challenge from former Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass.,
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Hillary Clinton stumps for Alison Lundergan Grimes as Democrats court women