President Obama will return to New Jersey to campaign with Gov. Jon Corzine on the Sunday before the election there next month, according to Democratic sources.

Obama will make two stops in the state to rally support for Corzine.

The decision to send the president back to the Garden State underscores the increasing White House confidence that Corzine, who had trailed in every poll until earlier this month, will pull of a comeback victory.  Recent surveys show the race to be within the margin of error with a wild card third-party candidate whose vote share seems to be increasing.

Obama is effectively doubling down on Corzine, betting that return in the final hours of the race will motivate Democrats to turn out and put the deeply unpopular governor over the top.

If Corzine wins, Obama would get a share of credit and a handy way to deflect question should Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds, who is trailing badly in the polls, lose.

But there is also risk in Obama's going back to New Jersey.   Should Corzine lose, questions would be raised about why the president chose to gamble on something less than a sure thing -- and why he was unable to rally voters in a heavily Democratic state.  After the election-eve events, Obama will have made three separate trips to stump for Corzine.

Obama is returning to appear with Deeds in the Tidewater region of Virginia next week, but White House officials suggest that is being done out of both party loyalty and to aid Gov. Tim Kaine, the outgoing Virginia governor, DNC chairman and president's close friend.

Posted by Jonathan Martin,  politico.com