Scott Horsley

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Today and tomorrow, President Obama will be showing up in a place where the stakes are high - Virginia. He won that state four years ago, the first Democrat to do so since Lyndon Johnson. Democrats believe that was the beginning of a long-term shift in Virginia politics. Republicans say it was a one-off. The argument could be settled this November in the Tidewater region of southeastern Virginia. That's where the president begins this campaign trip, as NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are hitting the campaign trail hard this week. On Tuesday, the president was campaigning in Iowa — the state that helped to launch his White House bid in 2008. He told supporters in Iowa he wants a second term in order to finish what he started.

President Obama has called on Congress to extend tax cuts for the middle class, while allowing rates for the wealthiest Americans to go up.

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President Obama's campaign bus rolls from Ohio into Pennsylvania Friday. He is trying to make the case that the U.S. economy is slowly but surely on the mend. While touring Ohio's manufacturing belt Thursday, he highlighted the rebound of the auto industry.

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This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. President Obama told residents of Colorado yesterday that the country has their back. The president visited an evacuation center and met with some of the firefighters who have been battling the deadly Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs.

President Obama attacked Republican rival Mitt Romney's budget math during a campaign rally in New Hampshire Monday. The Granite State has just four electoral votes, but it's expected to be hotly contested in November. The two presidential candidates also tangled over immigration policy on the same day the Supreme Court struck down portions of Arizona's immigration law.

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This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. The presidential campaign shifted focus a bit this week as President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney both reached out to the fast-growing population of Latino voters. The two men spoke to a national gathering of Hispanic politicians in Florida. Immigration, of course, is an urgent issue after Mr. Obama's decision last week to try to stop deporting some illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

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And I'm Renee Montagne.

When President Obama addresses a large gathering of Latino politicians later today in Florida, he's likely to get a warm reception. Just last week, Mr. Obama announced that hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants who came to this country as children can stay in the U.S. - at least temporarily.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney addressed Latino elected officials in Orlando on Thursday. After a primary season in which he talked of "self-deportation" among immigrants and vowed to veto the Dream Act, Romney was greeted skeptically. He said his immigration policy would include a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who serve in the U.S. military and green cards for those who earn advanced degrees in the U.S.