Democrats and Republicans rally midterm support

Barack Obama clearly still has plenty of pulling power.

But it is far from clear whether that will be enough to rescue his party from a mid-term election disaster.

With ten days to go before the polls, Obama wrapped up a whistlestop five state tour by revving up an 11,000-strong crowd in Minneapolis:

“Just like you did in 2008, you have the chance to defy the conventional wisdom. The same way that they said in 2008 that you can’t elect a skinny guy with a funny name to the Presidency of the United States of America. And so, in 2008, you said ‘yes, we can!’, in 2010 you have got to say ‘yes, we can!’” Sarah Palin is tipped as a presidential candidate for 2012.

She told a Republican rally in Florida the upcoming midterms are a referendum on Obama’s time in office:

“We have life and death choices coming up on November the 2nd, policies that hinge on who it is that we send to Washington DC and that we fill up our state houses with. This is paramount. This is the election, I think, of our lifetime.”

Many pollsters predict the Republicans will win enough seats to take control of the House of Representatives.

This would put the brakes on Obama’s legislative agenda.

Surveys show Democrats are also likely to lose seats in the Senate, but could keep a slim majority in the house.

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