Obama Midwest Swing Feels Like Campaign Trip

QUINCY, Ill. -- President Obama's two-day, three-state Midwest swing was billed as official government travel though it had the look, sound and feel of a political campaign.trip.

It returned him to the back roads of Iowa yesterday, a state that catapulted him out of political obscurity early in 2008 when he won its presidential caucuses.

"If it weren't for Iowa, I wouldn't be president," the president said to cheers and applause at his two big speeches in the state.

During two days of campaign-style appearances, Mr. Obama stopped at roadside diners for a piece of rhubarb pie one day in Iowa and a cheeseburger and fries to go the next day in Missouri.

He hopped out of his motorcade to greet a crowd in a parking lot and was in baby-kissing mode when a woman handed him her child.

Both days he visited farms, hearing about the problems of growing produce one day in Iowa and about pigs, cattle and corn on 1000 acres in Missouri where he was greeted by a 3-legged dog named Sprinkles.

Then here in Quincy, Illinois, he reminded people of how as a presidential candidate in 2008, he helped people here fill sandbags against an approaching Mississippi flood

In all three states he was undeniably campaigning for his domestic agenda, topped this week by his determination to get Congress to enact an overhaul of federal regulation of the financial industry - a goal he now refers to by the shorthand of "Wall Street Reform."

While Senate Republicans were blocking a Democratic reform bill from coming to the floor, Mr. Obama made no effort to disguise his irritation.

"It's one thing to oppose reform, but to oppose just even talking about reform in front of the American people and having a legitimate debate, that's not right," said the president.

But by Wednesday afternoon, a few Republicans were giving in and Mr. Obama basked in a political victory.

"So I'm very pleased, that after a few days of delay, it appears an agreement may be in hand to allow this debate to move forward on the Senate floor on this critical issue."

As the last speech of this two-day trip neared an end, Mr. Obama kicked in his campaign cadence, his voice building to a crescendo, asking his audience the rhetorical questions to which both he and they knew the answers?

• "Are we going to give in to the special interests?
• "Or are we going to score another victory for the American people?
• "Are we going to stick with the status quo?
• "Are we going to bring about fundamental change that makes things work for ordinary Americans?"

He ended his remarks by assuring his audience "we got the power to do something about this."

It's political power at stake in this midterm election year. If Democrats don't retain their majority in both houses of Congress, Mr. Obama will find the next two years of his presidency a very different animal when trying to get a GOP-controlled House or Senate to enact his agenda.

The last couple of days it looked and sounded as though Mr. Obama was already engaged in that campaign.