Election countdown: Hillary more relevant than Obama?

As the penultimate weekend before Election Day nears, President Obama's relevance is being questioned by a Democratic senator, Hillary is on the trail, and another potential 2016 contender is in a fight for his political life two years before the presidential election.

Here's what the buzz is for Friday with 11 days to go:

Walker in a fight

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is widely considered a potential contender for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. But the road to the White House might get a little bumpy if he doesn't win re-election in 11 days.

A new Wisconsin Public Radio/St. Norbert College poll shows Walker up only one point over Democratic rival Mary Burke among likely voters.

If he can hold on, Walker can certainly tout his political survival skills if he mounts a presidential campaign: He also won a 2012 recall election against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

Hillary on the stump

Hillary Rodham Clinton hits the trail again on Friday, this time traveling to Maine to campaign for Democrat Mike Michaud, who's battling GOP Gov. Paul LePage and independent Eliot Cutler in the state's gubernatorial race.

Paste BN's Election Outlook rates this contest as a Tossup.

The former secretary of State and potential 2016 presidential contender has been active in 2014 races, stumping for Democratic Senate candidates, including Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky and Sen. Mark Udall in Colorado. She'll head to North Carolina on Saturday to campaign for Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan.

Obama called 'not relevant' — by a Democrat

It's not uncommon for candidates of a president's party to distance themselves from the White House when the occupant's approval rating isn't exactly soaring. To that end, Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, who's in a tough battle for a second term against Republican Dan Sullivan, told the Washington Examiner that while he voted for President Obama, it was "irrelevant." He added: "The president's not relevant. He's gone in two years."

Ouch.

It's not the first time a president's relevance has been questioned in a tough political climate — and it's generally not a good sign. President Clinton famously defended his importance during a 1995 press conference, saying "the Constitution gives me relevance. The power of our ideas gives me relevance." This, of course, came months after huge losses for Democrats in a midterm election.

Pelosi is everywhere

Well, in a sense. You're not likely to find House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi campaigning alongside the likes of Rep. John Barrow in Georgia or in a television ad for embattled Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, but that doesn't mean she's not a big booster for Democratic candidates this cycle. Pelosi has raised in excess of $80 million for Democrats since last January, according to her office.

Make no mistake though: Pelosi is appearing in plenty of ads. They're just ads from Republicans targeting Democrats by associated them with her. In fact, 27 ads have featured the California Democrat thus far.

Elsewhere on the trail

Every election cycle produces a generally agreed upon list of battleground House races to watch, but as the campaign unfolds, sleeper races emerge. Roll Call profiles five House contests you may not have been following — but should.

Speaking of battleground House races, The Washington Post examines all of the tossup districts since 2000. You may be surprised to see how many there have been.

Hanging chads

The speaker of South Carolina's state House has resigned after pleading guilty to charges of misconduct in office. Our colleagues at WLTX have the story.

Not every Democrat running in a red state is trying to keep the president at arm's length. Wendy Davis, the Democratic candidate for governor in Texas, said she'd be "thrilled" if Obama wanted to come campaign for her, the Texas Tribune reports.

Candidate spending isn't the only big campaign expenditure this year. An analysis from the Center for Public Integrity shows that spending on television commercials in ballot initiative contests is up to $119 million.

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