WASHINGTON
(AP) — Claiming new momentum 48 hours before polls open across America,
Republicans on Sunday assailed President Barack Obama in a final
weekend push to motivate voters as Democrats deployed their biggest
stars to help preserve an endangered Senate majority.
GOP
officials from Alaska to Georgia seized on the president's low approval
ratings, which have overshadowed an election season in which roughly 60
percent of eligible voters are expected to stay home.
"This
is really the last chance for America to pass judgment on the Obama
administration and on its policies," the GOP's 2012 presidential
nominee, Mitt Romney, said in a message echoed by Republicans across the
country on the weekend.
The
president has avoided the nation's most competitive contests in recent
weeks, but encouraged Democrats to reject Republican cynicism during a
Sunday appearance with Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy.
"Despite
all the cynicism America is making progress," Obama said, imploring
Democrats to vote on Tuesday. "Don't stay home. Don't let somebody else
choose your future for you."
While
the elections will determine winners in all 435 House districts and in
36 governors' seats, the national focus is on the Senate, where
Republicans need to net six seats to control the majority in the
Congress that convenes in January. The GOP already controls the House,
and a Senate takeover could dramatically change Obama's last two years
in office.
Republicans
appear certain of picking up at least three Senate seats — in West
Virginia, Montana and South Dakota. Nine other Senate contests are
considered competitive, six of them for seats in Democratic hands.
Democratic Party leaders are predicting victory despite disappointing polls.
"I'm
very proud of this president," head of the Democratic National
Committee, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said. "I think we're
going to win the Senate."
In
New Hampshire, former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton
headlined a rally for Gov. Maggie Hassan and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a
Democrat locked in a tough re-election battle against former
Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown.
Clinton, who is weighing a 2016 presidential bid, charged that Republicans are running a campaign of fear.
"Fear
is the last resort for those who have run out of ideas and hope," she
said in her first appearance in New Hampshire since October 2008.
And
in Georgia, where Democrats see an opportunity to gain a seat in
traditionally GOP territory, Republican David Perdue repeatedly called
Democrat Michelle Nunn a "rubber stamp" for Obama during a Sunday
debate.
Nunn mockingly told Perdue he sounds like he's "running against the president."
"You're running against me, David," Nunn said.
In
Colorado, Democratic Sen. Mark Udall's best hope remains a robust
ground game. He made four stops at campaign offices to fire up
door-knockers, reminding them, in classic Colorado fashion, to knock on
doors before the Broncos game.
"We're
going to bring this one home in the next 72 hours," Udall said in the
suburb of Centennial, telling volunteers to disregard polls that find
him narrowly trailing Republican Rep. Cory Gardner.
While
the campaigns' costly voter turnout operations were in full swing,
large percentages of younger voters and minorities — groups that
typically support Democrats — are expected to sit out the elections
altogether.
None of the last four midterm elections drew more than 38 percent of the voting-age population.
Early voting has been strong, however.
At
least 16.7 million people have voted so far across 31 states, according
to early voting data monitored by The Associated Press. Arkansas,
Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, North Carolina,
Wisconsin and Utah already surpassed their 2010 advance totals; party
registration is divided about equally among those who have already cast
ballots.
Senate
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell cited encouraging polls as he
campaigned across Kentucky, where he's trying to hold off a challenge
from Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes.
"We
expect to win," McConnell said after riding in a Veterans Day Parade.
"This election is largely a referendum on the president of the United
States. Most people in my state and I hope around the country believe we
need to go in a different direction."
The
final Sunday before the election was bringing out big names, including
some who aren't on the ballot now but could be in 2016.
While
Clinton and Obama were on the trail, Vice President Joe Biden
campaigned with Florida Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist, who's
trying to unseat Republican Gov. Rick Scott.
"Stand up and show it! Speak up! Vote!" Biden said at a Florida International University event aimed at Hispanic voters.
On the Republican side, former Gov. Jeb Bush, another 2016 primary prospect, campaigned with Scott.
Romney,
who reiterated on Sunday that he would not make a third White House
run, was campaigning in Alaska with Senate candidate Dan Sullivan and
Gov. Sean Parnell.
New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is expected to enter the 2016
Republican presidential primary, made stops in South Carolina, Illinois,
Maryland and Pennsylvania. And Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was campaigning
in Kentucky.
Wasserman Schultz appeared on ABC's "This Week," while Romney was interviewed on "Fox News Sunday."
___
Associated
Press writer Jennifer Agiesta in Washington, Ken Thomas in Nashua, New
Hampshire, Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Nicholas Riccardi in Denver, Brendan
Farrington in Miami, Adam Beam in Madisonville, Kentucky and Thomas
Beaumont in Overland Park, Kansas contributed to this report.
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