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 Both parties pushed to get voters to the polls in a final effort
to sway the electorate ahead of Tuesday's election, which could
shift control of the U.S. Senate and upend policy priorities for the
last two years of Obama's final term.
The president, who spent the weekend campaigning in Michigan,
Connecticut and Pennsylvania, stayed in Washington on Monday and met
with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen about the U.S. and global
economy.
Obama will face pressure to make changes at the White House if his
party loses across the board. A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 75 percent
of respondents believed the administration needs to "rethink" how it
approaches major issues facing the United States (
http://bit.ly/1ph8sLs ). Sixty-four percent said Obama should
replace some of his senior staff after the election (
http://bit.ly/1rTVVbb ).
White House spokesman Josh Earnest played down the prospect of major
firings.
"At this point, I don't anticipate that will happen," he told a
briefing. He said a key factor driving the election was "frustration
with the failure of Washington, D.C., to put in place policies that
are helpful to middle-class families."
 Vice President Joe Biden told CNN in an interview broadcast on
Monday that he expected Democrats would hold the Senate and
dismissed suggestions that the White House would have to change the
way it does business.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll showed respondents wanted the administration
to "refocus" on tax reform, the Islamic State, immigration reform,
the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Iran's nuclear program, income
inequality, Israeli-Palestinian peace and tensions between Ukraine
and Russia, in that order.
Voters elect 36 senators, all 435 members of the House of
Representatives and 36 state governors on Tuesday. Control of the
Senate may not be clear, though, for some weeks, depending on the
outcomes of races in Georgia and Louisiana that could spur runoffs.
Democrats had hoped a superior get-out-the-vote effort, which helped
Obama win the White House in 2012, would offset apathy among their
core constituency groups, which have a history of sitting out
non-presidential elections.
But the Republican Party has stepped up its "ground game."
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said
volunteers would keep knocking on doors until polls closed.
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"We’ve completely revamped our ground game, and nearly all of our
time and resources have gone toward expanding the electorate by
persuading and turning out voters who typically don’t vote and
turning them out as early as possible," she said.
Democrats sent out an email from first lady Michelle Obama, who is
much more popular than her husband, urging supporters to get to the
polls.
"With Election Day coming up tomorrow, right now is your time to
make your biggest impact by getting out the vote, so Democrats can
win crucial elections," she wrote.
Republicans must pick up six Senate seats and retain those they have
to reclaim the majority from Democrats and control both chambers of
Congress. Polls show several races are toss-ups.
One is in New Hampshire, where Republican Scott Brown is challenging
incumbent Democrat Jeanne Shaheen.
A WMUR/University of New Hampshire poll put Shaheen, a first-term
U.S. senator and former governor, leading by 49 percent to 48
percent, while a New England College survey showed Brown, a former
U.S. senator from Massachusetts, ahead by 49 percent to 48 percent.
Races in Colorado, North Carolina, Kansas, Iowa and Alaska are also
tight.
(Additional reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Caren Bohan and
Doug Royalty)
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