Obama seeks to rev up blue-collar voters with Ohio bus trip

DHAKA: Buoyed by a victory over healthcare reform but stung by poor economic data, US President Barack Obama will try to rev up his re-election campaign on Thursday with a bus tour designed to appeal to struggling blue-collar workers in key battleground states.

Obama will spend two days visiting cities in Ohio and Pennsylvania, states that could prove critical to his ability to garner the number of electoral votes needed to beat Republican Mitt Romney in the November 6 election.

The president, a Democrat, is launching his first bus tour of the 2012 campaign against a backdrop of mixed poll numbers, fundraising challenges, and outside threats to an economy that could derail his chances of re-election.

An average of polls by RealClearPolitics shows the president ahead of his Republican rival by a tight 2.6 percentage points in Ohio and nationwide, reports The Jerusalem Post.

BDST: 1720 HRS, JUL 5, 2012

Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor