Obama coming to Ames today as part of three-state 'college tour'

President Barack Obama is set to return to Iowa today with a stop at Iowa State University in Ames as part of a three-state “college tour.”

College students are a key constituency for the president, who also plans a stop in Fort Collins, Colo., home of Colorado State University, Tuesday and a Wednesday stop in Charlottesville, Va., where the University of Virginia is located.

Voters in Patchwork Nation's College and Career map, which includes college-town counties such as Iowa's Johnson County, went for Obama by nearly 60 percent in 2008.

Obama is expected to speak on the school's central campus shortly after 1 p.m. Campaign officials say the president will talk about the economy and college affordability. He'll also encourage people to register to vote.

Check back at TheGazette.com for live streaming coverage of Obama's speech.

“President Obama was elected largely in part by college students hoping for more jobs waiting for them upon graduation, but under his leadership, the cost of college has hit an all-time high and college graduates face dismal employment prospects,” said Shawn McCoy, a spokesman for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

The Republican Party is expected to officially nominate Romney for president at its convention, which gets under way today in Tampa, Fla.

Also on Monday, the Obama campaign launched a weeklong truck tour of the state, including stops by Obama surrogates such as former Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, former Attorney General Bonnie Campbell and actress Ashley Judd.

Culver spoke outside the Obama campaign office in Iowa Monday morning to announce the tour, which would take him to Adel, Jefferson, Carroll, Denison and Council Bluffs.

He and other supporters plan to talk about Medicare, taxes, the wind energy tax credit and women's issues at each stop in the state.

“As we get closer to the election, Iowans will focus on the issues and see the differences (between Obama and Romney),” Culver said. “And we're going to keep hammering that message and highlighting those differences until the polls close.”

After his remarks, Culver took some questions, then boarded the blue F-350 with a cab back that serves as the “Heartland Tour 2012” RV, the sides of which are painted with the campaign logo and the #heartlandtour2012 Twitter hashtag

Other scheduled stops for the tour include Ames, Anamosa, Bloomfield, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Centerville, Clinton, Davenport, DeWitt, Eldridge, Fort Madison, Maquoketa, Marshalltown, Mason City, Muscatine, Perry, Waterloo and Waverly.

Obama is also scheduled to campaign in Sioux City on Saturday, a campaign official said Monday.

Details about where Obama will speak and when are still being worked out. He last appeared in Sioux City in 2008.

"It is very energizing," said Woodbury County Democratic Party Chairman Greg Guelcher, of Sioux City. "We are not the heavily Democratic part of Iowa, and yet it shows how Iowa is very much in play in 2012, that the president would take the time out of his busy schedule."

The last sitting president to visit Sioux City was George W. Bush, in fall 2004, when he filled the Tyson Events Center.

Obama also is expected to speak in Des Moines on Saturday, in the run-up to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 3-6.