Obama v. Bush, the Sequel
Two gubernatorial races have taken on national significance.

By WILLIAM MCGURN

President Obama with New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine

In New Jersey, Republican challenger Chris Christie served as a U.S. attorney under President George W. Bush before receiving his party's nomination—and Gov. Corzine doesn't intend to let the voters of blue-state New Jersey forget it.

A cruise through the Corzine campaign Web site shows press releases referring to Mr. Christie as "Bush Republican Chris Christie." One of many Bush-themed ads carries this tag-line: "Chris Christie—the same Bush policies that got us into this mess." And at a Corzine rally this past weekend, the Press of Atlantic City reports former Vice President Al Gore revving up the crowd with attacks suggesting that Mr. Christie represents "the George Bush wing of the Republican Party."

Given the miserable state of New Jersey's economy, it's not surprising that Gov. Corzine would like to nationalize this election. In addition to the swipes at Mr. Bush for the state's woes, the governor has put up billboards showing him standing behind President Obama. Unfortunately the old Bush-bash doesn't seem to be working: the RealClearPolitics.com poll average shows Mr. Christie up by 6.6 points.

Down in Virginia, meanwhile, it's the Republican candidate who's playing presidential tag. Mr. McDonnell surprised many people by trying his Democratic nominee, Creigh Deeds, to Mr. Obama.

Mr. McDonnell has zeroed in on Mr. Obama's economic agenda and is hanging it around Mr. Deeds's neck. On issues from health care to card-check legislation for unions to cap and trade, Mr. McDonnell has been painting Mr. Deeds as an Obama tax-and-spend clone.

This one appears to be more successful: the RPC average shows Mr. McDonnell's lead at 4.4 points. Though this is down from the double-digit advantage Mr. McDonnell held earlier, the decline has little to do with the Obama issue and more to do with an old college thesis that Democrats are using to paint Mr. McDonnell as a religious extremist.

Mr. Deeds's discomfort shows in the pains he is taking to put some distance between himself and the president. Indeed, at a recent debate sponsored by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Deeds was asked whether he saw himself as an Obama Democrat. He answered pointedly, "I'm a Creigh Deeds Democrat."

It's a tricky dance for all. On the one hand, the White House wants Democrats to win these two governorships. On the other, it doesn't want to get so close to these two candidates that if they go down in flames, the president gets burned too.

It makes for interesting politics. In Virginia, the White House took a hit when former Democratic Gov. Doug Wilder revealed that he had rejected a personal appeal from Mr. Obama to endorse Mr. Deeds.

And here's how a recent New York Times piece described Team Obama's work in New Jersey: "Every TV ad that Mr. Corzine puts on the air is being screened by the president's team. The governor's aides are giving daily briefings to the White House. Mr. Obama's pollsters have taken over for Mr. Corzine's polling team, and White House operatives are on the ground for everything from internal strategy sessions to obscure pep rallies with Latino supporters."

Each race is still too close to call. In the end, the experts may well be correct that the presidential factor will have little to do with the outcome of either contest. But with Mr. Obama's health-care bill stalled, and his popularity declining, you can bet the last thing the administration wants is to wake up the day after the election to stories suggesting that the Obama magic is gone.