Barack Obama targets female voters in a bid to stem rising Republican tide

President Barack Obama last night attempted to woo support from women voters, a key constituency that helped sweep him into the White House two years ago but has drifted toward Republicans with less than two weeks to go before elections that could wipe out Democrats' congressional majorities.

Mr Obama is in the midst of his longest campaign swing as president, a four-day trip through Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Minnesota. He is trying to beat back a swelling Republican tide that is cresting on voter anger over slow economic recovery and unemployment stuck near 10 per cent.

Drawing a line under Obama's expected message to women, Valerie Jarrett, one of his top advisers, issued a long statement in Washington early yesterday outlining a report by the White House National Economic Council. She promoted the president's efforts on behalf of women.

"Since his first day in office, President Obama has focused on laying the foundation for economic growth that creates good jobs and a healthy economy for all Americans," Jarrett wrote. "Strengthening opportunities for women in our economy is a key focus of the president's economic agenda."

Obama is not on the ballot in the 2 November election, which falls halfway through his presidency. But he is trying to energise Democratic voters against Republicans, who have been boosted by the ultra-conservative tea party movement and are seen as far more enthusiastic about voting.

At stake are all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 37 of 100 places in the Senate. Thirty-seven state governorships also are in play. Republicans are forecast to easily retake control of the House, diminish or even erase the Democrat majority in the Senate and capture a majority of the races to fill governors' mansions.

Allocating the president's valuable time is part of the tricky balance for the White House - deploying Mr Obama to the right places to stir up enthusiasm and re-energise first-time voters from two years ago even as he tries to keep people from viewing the election as a referendum on him and the battered economy.

Half of likely voters say how they vote on their House race won't be affected by Obama at all, according to a new AP-GfK poll. Yet almost as many said they will, in fact, base their House vote in part to send a message about Obama - 26 per cent to oppose him; 23 per cent support him.

The president is telling supporters the congressional elections matter."Unless we are able to maintain Democrats in the House and Senate, then we're going to be stalled for two years or four years, and we're going to start going backwards," he said at one fundraiser this month.

He is referring to the fate of big items Congress already has passed, like health care and Wall Street reform, and promises not yet kept, including deficit reduction and immigration reform.

"We don't want them rolling back health reform, so insurance companies can deny you coverage because you're sick. We don't want them rolling back Wall Street reform, so now credit card companies can go back to hitting you with hidden fees and penalties," Mr Obama said earlier this week at a noisy indoor rally in Portland, Oregon, for gubernatorial candidate John Kitzhaber.

The president's main roles are to raise money for the party, draw votes and media coverage for candidates in tight races, entice volunteers to knock on doors for scores of lesser-known candidates and try to shape the national election debate.

He is intent on drawing a contrast between Democratic and Republican leadership of the country.