President Obama is pumping up supporters ahead of the Democratic convention by campaigning Saturday in the swing state that effectively launched his successful presidential bid four years ago. Mitt Romney and his running mate, meanwhile, are looking to hold onto the spotlight after their party’s convention by rallying voters in two other key battleground states.
Obama will hold a rally near Des Moines, Iowa, later Saturday as part of a four-day march through key swing states in the lead-up to his re-nomination at the Democratic Convention next week in Charlotte, N.C.
The president, who is looking to blunt any momentum picked up by his rival, is expected to focus his speech on the economy and other issues, like education, his campaign said. Obama's address Saturday at the Living History Farms in Urbandale, a Des Moines suburb, will be his first since Romney received his party’s nomination at the Republican convention in Tampa, Fla., Thursday night.
After that, Obama is expected to speak at Morningside College in Sioux City, before traveling to Denver, Co., where he will hold a campaign event at the University of Colorado in Boulder on Sunday.
Romney, meanwhile, is appearing Saturday morning in the critical battleground state of Ohio. He is holding a rally in Cincinnati, where he will continue to make his case that the Obama administration has fallen short of its calling to restore a broken economy. He will then join his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., later Saturday for a joint rally in Jacksonville, Fla.
Both campaigns were crisscrossing the country as the race entered September, each day adding to the sense of urgency in a presidential contest that has remained tight since Romney sewed up the nomination in April. Both campaigns recognize that undecided elements of the electorate, including those in about eight key states, will begin to fully assess their options through the conventions and the upcoming debates in the weeks ahead.
Before the Democratic National Convention moves into full swing, though, both sides continue to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac.
Romney scrapped an appearance in Virginia on Friday to visit Louisiana instead, scheduling a last-minute visit Friday to Lafitte, La., to tour damage with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Concerns about Isaac canceled the first day of Romney's Republican convention, and campaign officials had been considering the visit for several days.
Obama was following with his own visit to Louisiana on Monday, the White House announced.
He also paid a visit to troops Friday at Fort Bliss in Texas, exactly two years after declaring the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq.
"Today, every American can be proud that the United States is safer, the United States is stronger and the United States is more respected in the world," Obama declared, a throng of soldiers in fatigues providing the backdrop.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
