Obama endorses Culver

President Barack Obama is asking Iowa voters to give Gov. Chet Culver the same winning effort at the polls that they gave him two years ago.

“I've seen first hand what Iowans can do when an election comes down to the wire – and I need you to give Chet the same effort this year that you gave me in 2008,” Obama said in an email letter paid for by the Democratic National Committee that was distributed to Iowans Thursday. “Whether it's knocking on doors or talking to your neighbors, now is the time to spread the word about Chet's results and his campaign.”

The presidential endorsement comes at a time when Culver is trying to erase the lead that former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, who is challenging Culver's re-election bid in the Nov. 2 general election, holds in public opinion surveys of likely Iowa voters. Branstad previously served four terms as Iowa governor from 1983 to 1999.

The Obama email notes that Culver is “in a tough race for re-election this year and needs your help to win.”

Tim Albrecht, spokesman for the Gov. Branstad 2010 campaign, dismissed the impact that Obama's support will have in Iowa's mid-term election.

“Gov. Culver's support among his base is so low that it has now become news when a president from his own party endorses him. That speaks for itself,” Albrecht said.

The Obama message touted the investments made in job, renewable energy and road construction initiatives during Culver's first term as governor, as well as legislative action on his initiatives to increase the state's minimum wage, raise pay for Iowa teachers, and expand health care for uninsured children “without raising taxes on working Iowa families.”

“The nation took note when he guided the state through the worst floods in its history in 2008, and it's taking not now as Iowa helps lead our nation's economic recovery,” according to the Obama email.

George Caudill, spokesman for Culver's re-election campaign, said the governor appreciated and welcomed the president's message of support.

“There is probably no president in modern history that has spent as much time in Iowa as Barack Obama,” Caudill said. “Since he first campaigned for Chet Culver in 2006 in Iowa City, President Obama has come to know the governor, he has come to know the people of Iowa, and it is without reservation that the president offered his endorsement and the governor proudly accepted it.”

Culver told reporters after a recent backyard town meeting that Obama held a Des Moines neighborhood that he expected the president would be back for a campaign visit before next month's election. Caudill said Thursday that the campaign was uncertain whether Obama would be able to travel to Iowa before Nov. 2 “but needless to say we'd welcome his visit as much as we welcome today's endorsement.”