President Obama's schedule almost has a campaign style flavor to it today, as he hops his way around Ohio and Pennsylvania, winding up his day by raising money for an ex-Republican Senator who's now on the Blue Team.

Mr. Obama begins his day in the Youngstown, Ohio area, where he will visit a General Motors plant.

(Note to self: Make sure to scan the crowd for any possible sightings of now-out-of-jail-ex-Rep. Jim Traficant!)

After that, it's off to Pittsburgh, to speak to the AFL-CIO, which is meeting there.

I'm sure you'll get some red meat rhetoric about health care at that event.

After that, next stop is Philadelphia, where the President will raise campaign money for Senator Arlen Specter.

Yes, the former GOP Senator, now a Democrat, has the President raising money for him, while Congressman Joe Sestak (D-PA) is running against Specter in the primary.

Let's just say that I'm not sure Sestak is going to dig too hard to support the President on health reform while the guy is raising big money for Arlen, eh?

Yesterday the White House announced that the President will hold a health care campaign-style rally at the University of Maryland on Thursday.

I saw Obama there in the Fall of last year, when he packed around 20,000 people in that place.  Later in the day, I saw John McCain draw about 300 people in Richmond, Virginia.

The contrast was a bit startling.

But this time, the crowds that Obama draws might have to be measured against the crowds of opponents who gathered the other day at the U.S. Capitol.

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Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, seen here in a file photo from Nov. 14, 2024, is conducting a statewide audit of voter registrations targeting registrations at businesses and P.O. boxes for possible cancelation. (Jason Getz / AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com