WASHINGTON — The White House bills it as a "listening tour," a chance for President Obama's Cabinet to get out of Washington and hear what's on the minds of rural voters around the country.
En route, the White House is making sure it reaches voters in crucial swing districts.
The itinerary laid out by the White House for its just-announced "Rural Tour" includes several politically competitive districts, which would give the Obama administration a chance to make its case to people who voted Republican in past congressional races but are now represented by Democrats up for reelection in 2010.
As part of the tour, 10 Cabinet secretaries are being dispatched to nine states over the summer. Locations include several districts that Republicans are targeting in next year's midterm elections.
The tour is one of several examples of administration officials crisscrossing the country to tout Obama's agenda and foster goodwill.
First Lady Michelle Obama is now part of the act. On Monday, she visited a community health center in Washington, D.C., to announce that $850 million in stimulus money will go to various health clinics.
The tour opened Wednesday in northwestern Pennsylvania, in a district represented by Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, a Democrat who ousted a longtime Republican in the 2008 election.
Vice President Joe Biden made an appearance, announcing that $4 billion in federal stimulus money would be made available nationwide to help bring broadband service to areas that lack coverage.
In an interview afterward, Dahlkemper said that stimulus funds could be an important tool in winning over rural voters, showing them that the federal government is pumping resources into their regions.
The stimulus money "is helping rural areas, which tend to lean politically more to the right," Dahlkemper said.
The administration's roadshow comes as support for some of the president's policies is softening. Although Obama still enjoys strong personal approval ratings, more people are worried about the deficit and are skeptical that the $787-billion stimulus will improve economic conditions. Another concern for the president is that the unemployment rate is expected to worsen; Obama has predicted it will top 10%.
In this climate, deploying Cabinet members throughout the country serves important political purposes, some Democratic strategists said.
