First lady hits Senate campaign trail

The president might be shying away from some of the nation’s toughest Senate races, but there will be an Obama appearing alongside Democrats scrambling to keep hold of the upper chamber later this week.

{mosads}First lady Michelle Obama will travel to Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado for events supporting Democratic Senate candidates later this week, the White House announced Monday.

That includes a swing through Iowa City on Tuesday for a voter rally with Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), who is vying to replace retiring Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). It’s not the first lady’s first trip to the Hawkeye State to bolster Braley’s campaign, although Democrats are hoping for better headlines this time around. 

Earlier this month, Obama repeatedly botched Braley’s name at a campaign rally, referring to the to the Iowa lawmaker as “Bruce Bailey.”

The stop comes also less than a week after Braley blasted the administration’s Ebola response during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing earlier Thursday, saying he was “greatly concerned … that the administration did not act fast enough responding” to the first U.S. Ebola case in Texas.

Two healthcare workers have been subsequently infected by the deadly virus, prompting tough questions about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s handling of the case and procedures for disease outbreak.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Braley was “somebody that has a reputation for being willing to speak truth to power, whether they’re in the same party as him or not.”

“I think this is another indication that he’s willing to do that,” Earnest said.

After visiting Iowa, the first lady will jet up to Minneapolis for a get-out-the-vote event with Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.). While the former “Saturday Night Live” comedian won his seat by only a few hundred votes six years ago, recent polls suggest he’s expected to easily win reelection.

That’s not true of Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), who Obama will appear alongside on Thursday. The first lady will headline grassroots campaign events for Udall in Fort Collins and Denver.

Udall’s Republican opponent, Rep. Cory Gardner, has led in every public poll released since September.

In July, Udall generated headlines after choosing to skip a fundraiser he was scheduled to attend with the president in Denver. A spokesman said Udall needed to stay in Washington to vote for the confirmation of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro.