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WASHINGTON National Democrats are scaling back on spending in House races where Democrats are challenging Republicans, but are buttressing Democrats trying to hold onto House seats, moves that could affect two relatively close races in the St. Louis area.

The net effect may be that St. Louis-area TV viewers could see fewer political ads from Illinois' 12th and 13th Districts over the next month - at least from the Democrats.

As Politico reported today, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has decided to pull October advertising dollars on St. Louis TV it had set aside for Democrat Ann Callis, who is challenging Illinois' 13th District Republican Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville. A DCCC aide estimated that about $420,000 worth of advertising intended to help Callis may now be directed into other districts. But the DCCC official pointed out that it will continue to advertise for Callis on Champaign, Ill., television for at least three weeks in October.

The DCCC, which put an estimated $1 million of advertising on St. Louis TV in September on behalf of Rep. Bill Enyart, D-Belleville, intends to expand a pro-Enyart TV buy out of Paducah, Ky., which covers the southern end of Enyart's district, according to a DCCC aide. The DCCC also currently plans to be on the air for Enyart at the two weeks before the election. Enyart faces Republican challenger Mike Bost, an Illinois state legislator, in one of the country's hardest-fought House races.

DCCC spokesman Brandon Lorenz said that "ad reservations are changing every week, and Judge Ann Callis is running an aggressive campaign in a tough climate."

National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Katie Prill said the decision could be a "fatal blow" to the challenge campaign of Callis, who trailed Davis by double digits in a poll released publicly last week.

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Democrats pulling air support for Callis House campaign on St. Louis TV

As Ken Burnss superb documentary on the Roosevelts reminded us, Happy Days Are Here Again is one of the most evocative anthems in the history of the Democratic Party. You have to ask: Why arent the Democrats, and the country, singing it loudly now?

A party controlling the White House could not ask for much more from economic numbers than the Democrats got in Fridays jobs report, issued a month and a day before the midterm elections. Unemployment fell to 5.9percent, the lowest it has been since July 2008. The nation added 248,000 jobs, more than the forecasters had projected. Whats not to like?

President Obama, for one, is clearly frustrated that having inherited an economy that was at deaths door, he is getting remarkably little credit for getting it back on its feet.

As Americans, we can and should be proud of the progress that our country has made over these past six years, Obama said in a speech at Northwestern University the day before the figures were released. Right now, there are more job openings than at any time since 2001. All told, the United States has put more people back to work than Europe, Japan, and every other advanced economy combined.

And lest anyone miss the import of what he just said, the president added: I want you to think about that.

He would also like voters to think about that before they cast their ballots. And here is the conundrum of the 2014 campaign. In 2010, House Speaker John Boehners battle cry that helped Republicans win their landslide was, Where are the jobs? Obama and the Democrats are now in a position to reply: Here are the jobs!

But Boehner isnt asking that question anymore.

Why doesnt this good news matter more to the electorate? Obama and Democrats trying to survive this fall face two problems in getting voters to sing a joyous song.

The first is that the very improvement in the economy means that it is a less central concern to voters than it was when Obama took office or in 2010. The Gallup Polls numbers are striking: In February 2009, 86percent of Americans listed an economic issue as their central concern; in October 2010, on the eve of the last midterms, 69percent did. But in the most recent Gallup survey, the proportion listing an economic issue was down to 41percent. Better times mean different worries.

Yet voters who are still concerned about the economy tend to be focused not on its successes but on what it is failing to do for them. Thats the Democrats other problem. The unemployment rate is way down, but its still not low enough to create rapid and widespread wage growth. Many of the forces that have been driving up inequality since the 1980s are still with us.

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Dionne: Why Democrats arent getting credit for the economy

AUSTIN Republicans and Democrats are scurrying to register potential voters before Mondays deadline, but as with most issues, they disagree on strategy.

The state Republican Party is targeting people who have recently moved to Texas from another state or who switched counties within the state, and who have a history of voting Republican. Battleground Texas, a Democratic group aiming to make Texas elections competitive, is reaching out to people who have never registered to vote or seldom vote.

Texas has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the country. According to the Texas secretary of states office, 27 percent of voting-age Texans cast a ballot during the last midterm election in 2010.

Monday is the deadline to send in a registration request. The Nov. 4 elections include contests for governor, congressional offices and county posts, along with ballot initiatives.

Texas hasnt elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994. Experts say the fact that Republicans consistently win is a major reason for the low turnout. Battleground Texas, an organizing group started by veterans of President Barack Obamas campaigns, hopes to change that.

We know that Texas is not actually a red state, said the groups spokeswoman, Erica Sackin. Its just a state where people havent been engaged in politics yet and havent been voting yet.

Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said turnout among affluent whites is three times that of low-income, high-school-educated and minority residents, and they tend to vote more Republican.

As you move down the age scale, education scale and income scale, those demographics are more likely to vote Democratic, Jillson said. With an approach that welcomes any registrants, Battleground Texas is figuring, were going to accidentally get a few Republicans, but were going to get more of our people.

Jillson said the best way to get people in these demographics to cast a ballot is to talk to them about the issues. For example, most rely on the public education system for their children, and Democrats want to increase funding. Some would also benefit from an expansion of Medicaid, which Republicans have resisted, he noted.

If you talk to them in terms of issues, and the way Democrats positions on the issues could advantage them if they would disturb themselves to vote, you might get some movement, Jillson said.

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Texas GOP, Democrats differ in approach to registering voters

WASHINGTON - National Democrats have canceled television ad buys in two congressional races in Philadelphia's suburbs, signaling that the races may have slipped out of reach as the party shifts money to other races that appear more competitive.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) canceled ad reservations in the Chester County-based Sixth District, where Democrat Manan Trivedi is taking on Republican Ryan Costello, and in the Bucks County-based Eighth, where U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) faces a challenge from Democrat Kevin Strouse, once billed as a star DCCC recruit.

The cancellation, first reported by Politico, comes as Democrats scramble to protect incumbents, rather than trying to gain ground in a year that looks ever stronger for the GOP.

"Ad reservations are changing every week, and both Manan Trivedi and Kevin Strouse are running aggressive campaigns in a tough climate," said DCCC spokesman Marc Brumer. The National Republican Congressional Committee cast the decision as Democrats waving the white flag.

The DCCC retained its $1.3 million ad reservation in the tough South Jersey race between Democrat Aimee Belgard and Republican Tom MacArthur to replace U.S. Rep. Jon Runyan (R., N.J.).

Democrats had reserved $1.9 million to help Strouse and Trivedi before slashing their planned spending.

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National Democrats cancel ads in Phila.-area races

Democrats are starting to play the blame game as they face the possibility of losing the Senate in November.

Tempers are running high a month out from Election Day, with polls showing Democratic candidates trailing in the crucial battleground states that will decide whether control of Congress flips to Republicans.

Pro-immigrant advocacy groups, meanwhile, are saying Democrats should not blame them if Latino voters dont turn up to the polls on Election Day. They say President Obama made a tactical blunder by postponing an executive order easing deportations.

And grassroots organizers are grumbling about Alison Lundergan Grimess (D-Ky.) bid to take down Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), arguing her campaign has been disorganized.

Yes, youve seen pre-emptive finger pointing in the last couple of weeks, said Gerald Warburg, a former Senate Democratic leadership aide and assistant dean at the University of Virginias Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.

"I used to work in the Democratic caucus and some of the toughest shootouts we ever engaged in were when we stood in a circle and fired at each other. I think you see a little bit of that now," he said.

With control of the Senate in jeopardy, some Democrats are eyeing potential scapegoats: Obamas low approval rating; low turnout from Hispanic voters; overly centrist messaging; and the media, to name just a few.

One of the Senates most vulnerable incumbents, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) recently said he wants to replace Reid by electing Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) as majority leader. He made the comments at a fundraiser, according to audio obtained by The Washington Free Beacon.

Pryor said the best thing that could happen to the Senate would be if McConnell gets beat and Harry Reid gets replaced.

With an eye on saving his majority, Reid adopted a strategy of limiting legislative amendments to protect vulnerable colleagues from tough votes that could be used against them on the campaign trail.

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Democrats start to point fingers