Campaigner-In-Chief To Hit The Road With His "Betting On America" Bus Tour

(AP) -- President Barack Obama is hitting the road again this week with a "Betting on America" bus tour of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Obama beat Republican John McCain by 11 percentage points in Pennsylvania and 5 percentage points in Ohio in 2008. Now, both states are seen as competitive.

In fact, battleground states abound this year and that makes the race extra expensive since that's where both campaigns and independent groups are plowing big bucks.

Ohio may be the premier swing state. No Republican has ever made it to the White House without carrying Ohio and no Democratic candidate since John F. Kennedy in 1960. Obama has scheduled stops Thursday in the northern Ohio cities of Maumee, Sandusky and Parma.

His Friday tour includes a speech in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania hasn't gone Republican since backing George H.W. Bush in 1988.