Obama requests absentee ballot for midterm elections

President Obama will cast his vote in the midterm elections via absentee ballot, the White House said Tuesday.

The Chicago resident, temporarily employed in Washington, requested the ballot but has not yet weighed in on the many competitive races in Illinois this year, including the tight race for governor and for the Senate seat he vacated to become president.

Early voting began in Illinois Monday, but a stop in his home state is not yet part of what his shaping up to be a busy campaign itinerary for Obama in the coming weeks. That schedule includes a mix of fund-raisers and public events to boost fellow Democrats this fall.

On Friday, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will raise money for Delaware Senate nominee Chris Coons, who faces “tea party” favorite Christine O’Donnell in the race for Biden’s former Senate seat. O’Donnell raised millions online after her upset victory, but trails Coons by double digits in most polls.

On Saturday, he is scheduled to travel to Boston for a fund-raiser and rally with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who is seeking a second term this November. On Sunday, the president and first lady will team up for the first time for events in the key battleground of Ohio. Obama will first raise money in Cleveland for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, then travel for another Moving America Forward rally slated to take place at the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus. He’ll also attend a fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee there.

After a brief return to Washington, Obama begins a West Coast swing in Portland, Ore., on Oct. 20, for a fund-raiser with former Gov. John Kitzhaber, who’s seeking a political comeback this November.

On Oct. 21, Obama will hold a public rally in Seattle with Washington state Sen. Patty Murray, one of about half a dozen Democrats facing tough reelection battles. He later travels to San Francisco for a fund-raiser.

The Oct. 22 itinerary includes a Los Angeles fundraiser for California Sen. Barbara Boxer and a joint fund-raiser in Las Vegas for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Reid’s opponent, Sharron Angle, announced Tuesday that she raised a stunning $14 million in the third quarter of 2010, and polls still show the two neck-and-neck.

In Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Obama headlines additional Moving America Forward rallies, bringing to five the total number of these events planned by Organizing for America aimed at boosting voter turnout this fall.

His trip concludes with weekend stops in Minnesota – to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton – and Rhode Island, again for the DCCC.

“Pack extra socks,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs advised the press corps in preparation for the travel.

Obama’s itinerary continues a pattern of the president campaigning primarily in safer blue states – such as Washington, California and Massachusetts – where his popularity is still reasonably high, and other battlegrounds – such as Ohio and Nevada -- that are crucial to his party this fall and his reelection in 2012.

“The president’s been a whole lot of places and is going to continue to do that,” Gibbs said.

Asked if Obama was avoiding other states, Gibbs noted that First Lady Michelle Obama and Biden have been active in other states.

“So I think we are -- this administration is well-represented throughout the country,” he said.

Michelle Obama begins a string of events aimed mostly at boosting Senate Democrats Wednesday with stops in Wisconsin for Sen. Russ Feingold, and Illinois for Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias and Congressional candidates.

“She’s going to go out and make a positive and affirmative case for the candidates that she’s campaigning on behalf of and the steps that the administration has taken over the past two years,” Gibbs said.

On Monday, Obama traveled to Florida for fund-raisers for congressional Democrats. Tuesday he is slated to participate in an interactive town hall meeting with Democratic supporters across the country, one in which officials say he’ll become the first president ever to take questions through the streaming video program Skype.

On Thursday, Obama will participate in another town hall meeting aimed at young voters to be broadcast on several Viacom cable networks, including MTV and BET.

mmemoli@tribune.com

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