The President's last minute campaign stops don't provide a big boost according to the Saint Paul Pioneer Press.

"Bush's 15-state blitz in the final six days of the campaign caps a three-week stretch in which he has barnstormed the country. History suggests it's a largely empty exercise."

"Presidential visits to rallies for other candidates excite the party's core supporters, but they also energize the opposition. Any bump up in polls that a president can produce for his party's local candidate tends to be short-lived."

"If Bush hoped his message would reach beyond the auditorium — and all these rallies are produced as much for television as for the audience present — he didn't fare very well. His visit was buried on the evening newscasts of the three network affiliates in the Twin Cities, where more than half the state's population lives. The Bush story was 10th on the 10 p.m. newscast of CBS affiliate WCCO, after stories about such subjects as the arrest of former baseball player Kirby Puckett and an Air Force plane crash in California."

Thanks to Hamster for leading us to the article.