Obama heads to heartland to stump for stimulus

With Congress bogged down on his administration's $800 billion-plus stimulus package, President Obama is hoping to rally public support with a brief campaign-style road trip today, heading to a part of the country particularly hard hit by the economic downturn.

Obama will employ the so-called "bully pulpit" of the presidency by holding a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, a city that has seen its unemployment rate triple to more than 15 percent over the past year.

"We aren't in Elkhart to explain Washington's process to them, but instead to highlight for Washington the problems and pain facing Americans," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

The trip is Obama's first major face-to-face meeting with a group of ordinary Americans outside of Washington since taking office January 20.

The president is expected to make an additional push for the stimulus plan Monday night with a prime-time White House news conference. He's also planning a second campaign-style swing tomorrow, heading to Fort Myers, Florida, another city wrestling with double-digit unemployment.

(Via CNN)