Obama Vows Aggressive Campaign for the Party's Congressional Candidates

WASHINGTON - President Obama vowed on Friday to wage an aggressive political campaign this year on behalf of Democratic congressional candidates, telling members of the Democratic National Committee that he will work to make the election a choice between 'opportunity for a few or opportunity for all.'

Heading into the second half of his second term, Mr. Obama finds the fate of his agenda, and his legacy, at stake. If Democrats lose control of the Senate to Republicans, the president may spend the rest of his time using a veto pen instead of signing bills into law.

That reality appears to have lit a fire under Mr. Obama and his political team, which now includes David Simas at the head of a newly revived political office inside the White House. Aides said the president was making 'all of the data and technology' from his two presidential campaigns available to Democratic candidates.

The president will participate in 18 fund-raisers for the Democratic National Committee between now and June, they said, and an additional 12 for the Democratic campaign committees on Capitol Hill. Aides also said that Mr. Obama would help raise money for the ' super PACs ' that have been set up to preserve the Democratic Senate majority and to wrest control of the House from the Republicans.

'The president can set the terms of the electoral debate and lay out a unifying economic message for Democrats in red, blue and purple states,' a White House official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss election-year strategies.

What he cannot do - at least in some parts of the country - is appear in person on behalf of Democratic candidates whose conservative constituents view Mr. Obama with scorn. Several Democratic candidates in recent weeks have either declined to say whether they want Mr. Obama in their state or have explicitly said they did not.

'If he wants to come up, I'm not really interested in campaigning,' Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska, said on CNN in January. 'What I'd like him to do is see why his policies are wrong.'

Aides conceded that in states like Alaska, which Mr. Obama lost by a double-digit margin in the last election, it does not make sense 'to have a sitting Democratic president campaign' on behalf of Democratic candidates. But they said the president could still help frame Democrats' separate campaigns themes into a compelling national story.

Republicans on Friday mocked Mr. Obama's speech to Democratic activists, saying that his declining poll numbers would make him a drag on Democratic candidates in the weeks and months ahead. Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, accused the president of 'fearmongering' with speeches about economic divisions.

'Opportunity means jobs yet the Democrats spend their time focused on Obamacare and a minimum-wage increase that does nothing to help the millions of Americans looking for work,' Mr. Priebus said in a written statement.

In his remarks, Mr. Obama offered little hope for bipartisan progress in Washington, saying the Republicans have been 'obsessed' with undoing his initiatives even as he said Democrats have tried to focus on creating jobs and raising wages and making college more affordable.

'No, not Ted Nugent,' he said, prompting laughter about recent comments by the rock guitarist. 'They have been obsessed with repealing the Affordable Care Act. You know what they say: The 50th time is the charm. Maybe when you hit your 50th repeal vote you will win a prize. Maybe if you buy 50 repeal votes you get one free.'

Mr. Obama also sought to seize the offensive on the use of the word 'freedom,' a word that is often a clarion call used by Republicans to rally their most loyal voters.

The president told Democrats that they have let Republicans define the word for too long. He said the word should be used to describe the ability of ordinary Americans to pursue their goals in the same way as the rich and powerful.

'So we're not ceding that word. Freedom, for the most powerful interests to do whatever they want, that's, I suppose, one form of freedom,' he said, adding that 'that's the choice we face right now: opportunity for a few or opportunity for all.'

But Mr. Obama also warned that Democratic candidates would not be successful this fall if their supporters do not come out to vote. He pledged the weight of his office to make sure that Republican predictions of tepid Democratic enthusiasm are not proved true.

'Their models are constructed based on the idea that Americans will sit out this election because they look at the past and in the past it's true,' the president said. 'A lot of Democrats don't vote during midterms. We just don't. Young people, African-Americans, Latinos - we just oftentimes don't vote during midterms.'

But he ended on a more optimistic note, saying that if Democrats can inspire their voters this year, 'we won't just win in November, we'll win for America and for our future.'