By Greg Giroux, CQ-Roll Call

Democrat Creigh Deeds said Friday that he’ll take all the help for his campaign for Virginia governor that President Obama wants to give him.

Obama spoke at a rally for Deeds in northern Virginia in early August, but some Democrats have been speculating that their nominee might be better off if he put some distance between himself and the White House.

Deeds, who lags behind Republican nominee Bob McDonnell in the polls, told WTOP radio’s “The Politics Program” that Obama will campaign for him before the Nov. 3 election.

“Absolutely. I’ll take the president as often as I can get him,” said Deeds, who raised money in northern Virginia on Thursday with the assistance of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Obama won 53 percent of the statewide vote in the 2008 election to become the first Democrat in 44 years to carry Virginia.

But there’s a tradition in Virginia politics that the party that wins the presidential election one year loses the off-year election for governor. And though Virginia went for Obama for president, polling as recently as September found the president was viewed favorably of just 52 percent of state voters surveyed.

Deeds praised Obama even as he acknowledged some differences on policy.

“I think he’s done a good job and I think he’s going to do an even better job as we move forward. But it’s just unreasonable to expect any two people to agree 100 percent of the time,” Deeds said.

McDonnell, a former state Attorney General, has been critical of some of the Obama administration’s policies.

Despite trailing in the polls, Deeds said that he was confident he could pull off the come-from-behind victory.

“I run better as an underdog,” he said.