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President Obama flew to Milwaukee for a fiery, populist speech on Labor Day, marking the informal kickoff of a push this fall to stave off Republican control of the Senate.

Obama's brief visit to Wisconsin was ostensibly nonpolitical, and he avoided wading into the state's hotly contested race for governor. But before an appreciative audience decked out in shirts proclaiming their union membership, the president hit all his party's main campaign themes: equal pay for women, gay rights, an increase in the minimum wage, immigration reform.

With the president unpopular in many of the states that are battlegrounds this fall, his main campaign assignment, beyond raising money, will be to try to boost turnout among minorities, young people and union members, groups that make up the core of the Democratic vote and appeared well represented in Monday's crowd.

With such audiences, Obama's main theme will be to push back against the widespread sense of frustration about Washington that Democratic strategists fear will depress turnout of their voters this fall.

Obama cited recent job growth, expansion of conventional and renewable energy production, and improvements in manufacturing as he declared that by almost every measure, the American economy and American workers are better off than when I took office.

I placed a bet on you. I placed a bet on America's workers, he said. The president touted a list of his administration's accomplishments, including healthcare reform, caps on student loan repayments and executive action to raise wages for some low-paid workers.

Every inch of it, we have had to fight for against lock-step opposition that is opposed to everything we do, he said. But it was worth it. Every gray hair is worth it.

Republicans, who have pledged to reverse some of Obama's moves, especially his Affordable Care Act, have a strong shot at capturing the six additional Senate seats this fall that would give them a majority. One major reason for their advantage is the greater likelihood of their supporters turning out to vote.

Democrats often face a turnout gap in midterm elections, but Democratic strategists say they fear that public cynicism about Washington will make the gap even bigger this year.

One strategy the party has adopted to combat that is to convince voters that gridlock is not a problem of Washington as a whole, but of the Republicans in particular.

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Obama tries to rekindle hope in Labor Day speech