Romney's Bus Tour Hits Many Counties Obama Carried in 2008
Mitt Romney kicks off a six-state bus tour today. The tour begins in New Hampshire and will hit the battlegrounds states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan. In addition to being key swing states in the fall, these states share another distinction: They were all won by Barack Obama in 2008.
"We're certainly campaigning on their turf," Romney strategist Russ Schriefer told reports today.
Not all the stops on the tour are confirmed, but based on the stops known, it appears that Schriefer's statement applies not just to the states, but in many cases to the specific counties where the bus tour stops.
In New Hampshire today, Romney visits the towns of Stratham and Milford. Stratham is located in Rockingham County, in the southeastern most portion of the state. Barack Obama narrowly carried Rockingham in 2008, defeating Sen. John McCain by about 1 percentage point. Milford is located in Hillsborough County, another blue county in 2008. Obama carried this one by a margin of about 3 percentage points.
Romney heads from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania, where he'll visit some more counties Obama won. Romney stops in Weatherly, Quakertown and Cornwall, Pa. Weatherly and Quakertown are located in Carbon County and Bucks County, respectively, two counties that went blue the last time around. Obama won Carbon County by roughly 2 percentage points and carried Bucks County by about 9. Cornwall is located Lebanon County, which McCain won handily, 59 percent to Obama's 40 percent.
From there Romney heads to the Midwest, where local reports indicate he plans to stop in more Republican friendly in Ohio. The Fox News affiliate for Cleveland, reports that Romney will attend a pancake breakfast in Brunswick Sunday, in honor of Father's Day. Brunswick is located in Medina County, where McCain won with about 56 percent of the vote, compared to Obama's 43 percent.
In Wisconsin, the AP reports Romney will stop at a manufacturer in Janesville, Wis. Janesville is located in the blue Rock County. Obama carried Rock County by almost 30 percentage points in 2008. More recently, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett carried this county in the recent recall election in the state, beating Republican Governor Scott Walker 56 percent to 43 percent.
Iowa is also Obama territory. The Quad City Times reports Romney will be stopping in the city of Davenport Monday. Davenport is located in Scott County, where Obama won with about 57 percent of the vote in 2008, a double-digit margin over McCain, who received 42 percent of the vote.
The final state - Michigan - also features stops were Obama won. The Detroit News reports that Romney will be stopping in Saginaw County, in the city of Dewitt, which is located in Clinton County, and in Holland, which actually spans the border of Allegan and Ottawa counties. While McCain carried both Allegan and Ottawa counties in 2008 - 55 percent of the vote in Allegan went to McCain, 61 percent in Ottawa - Obama carried Saginaw and Clinton, although he narrowly eeked out McCain in the latter county, scoring roughly 50 percent of the vote to McCain's 49 percent.
ABC News' Emily Friedman and Michael Falcone contributed reporting.
