power is up for grabs. we're at the white house tonight with more. >> reporter: good evening, lester. that political battle is joined. with control of congress at stake and some predicting a gop take-over the house and even the senate, the white house is pulling out all the stops, even deploying a not so secret weapon. returning from two days at camp david, president obama stepped off marine one and into an all-out political fight. >> i think if we voted tomorrow, we would do very well. >> reporter: republicans sense victory in november and today attacked the president and his party. >> he's governed from the left ditch. he turned his agenda over to the liberals in the house, and here we are a few months before the election and it's all caught up with him. >> reporter: the number one issue is the economy. with growth sluggish and the jobless rate high democrats are in danger with some now running away from their own leaders. >> that may not be what the washington crowd wants, but i don't work for them. i work for you.