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Dannel Malloy is one rare Democrat.

The Connecticut governor, like many other Democrats in this midterm election, is locked in a dead-heat re-election race. But Malloy is daring to do something few other vulnerable Democrats would do campaign with President Barack Obama.

In his first major campaign event of the fall, Obama was to appear at a Malloy rally Wednesday evening in Bridgeport, Connecticut, aiming to mobilize core Democratic voters who remain loyal and enthusiastic supporters of the president.

When it comes to finding useful places for Obama to stump with a candidate, the pickings are slim. Many of the most imperiled Democrats, particularly Senate incumbents, are running in typically Republican states where Obama is deeply unpopular. Few of those Democrats invoke the president's name except to distance themselves from him.

So in a way, Wednesday's rally is an opportunity for Obama to also demonstrate he remains politically relevant. The Connecticut governor's race is perhaps the best place to start.

It's a Democratic state Obama won easily in 2008 and 2012. And with Democrats outnumbering Republicans in the state, energizing core voters is essential to Malloy's survival against Republican Tom Foley.

"It's a state that Obama carried by 18 points two years ago," noted former Obama senior adviser David Axelrod. "As everywhere, Malloy's challenge will be to fight midterm drop-off among Democratic voters, and the president can help with that."

Following his Connecticut appearance, Obama planned to campaign Sunday in Maryland for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Anthony Brown and in his hometown of Chicago for Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. Brown is considered far less vulnerable than Quinn, who is running neck-and-neck in his Illinois re-election bid against Republican Bruce Rauner. As in Connecticut, both races are in states Obama handily won.

What's more, governors are a step removed from Washington and thus less likely to be held accountable for a president's federal policies.

In contrast, Democrats running in Senate races in such Republican states as Arkansas, Alaska and Kentucky have made it clear they don't want to be seen with Obama. Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky Democrat seeking to unseat Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, won't even say whether she voted for Obama.

Excerpt from:
Obama Finds a Place to Campaign: Connecticut