He Just Won't Rest: Obama Headlining Multiple Fundraisers

In a bid for greater transparency, they're all closed to the press.

President Barack Obama is stepping up his fundraising efforts as the midterm elections draw closer and Democrats need money to battle a Republican Party energized in part by voter concern over government spending and regulations.

Obama was to speak Wednesday at a sandwich shop in Edison, N.J., to tout a lending initiative aimed at small businesses. From there he was to travel to New York to tape an interview with the daytime talk show "The View" and attend two high-dollar fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee.

Obama is headlining four Democratic fundraisers in three days and hosting another four events next week. For now he's playing it safe, holding the eight events in noncompetitive states or in a competitive place where he's sure to be embraced: his home state of Illinois.

White House officials say Obama will campaign vigorously throughout the nation ahead of the fall elections.

"The fall campaign boils down to a choice between those who want to keep moving forward and those that want to take us back to the policies that got us into this mess," said White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer. "The president will help make that case across the country."

Wednesday's fundraisers in New York are closed to the media, as was a similar event Tuesday night in Washington.

Obama's election-year argument is taking shape: Despite unemployment that continues to hover near 10 percent, he wants voters to make a choice in November between his policies, which he says are pointing the country in the right direction, and those of the GOP, which he says led the country into recession in the first place.

Yeah, let's ignore the damage done by the Pelosi Congress.