Democrats' new secret GOTV weapon on the stump: Barack Obama?

The most overt pitch is to African-Americans who still have approval ratings for the president in the high 90s and have concentrated populations in states like Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan and North Carolina.

There’s nothing subtle about the DNC running for the final two weeks in African-American newspapers: “GET HIS BACK,” in big, bold capital letters, one word per line. “Republicans have made it clear that they want our President — Barack Obama — to fail,” the ad reads, next to a full profile shot of Obama. “If you don’t vote this November 4, they win.”

Not that he can so easily contain his pitch. Republicans immediately pounced Monday when Obama appealed to unmotivated Democrats on Rev. Al Sharpton’s radio show by saying that they shouldn’t see his lack of appearances on the trail as any of the actual distance that candidates have spent the past months trying to cement in nonbase voters’ minds.