Obama, Romney to both campaign in Dubuque on Saturday

DUBUQUE - Eastern Iowa will be the center of the race for the White House just three days before the election, as both Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney will be campaigning in Dubuque on Saturday.

The gates open at 2 p.m. for Obama's afternoon speech at Washington Square Park. Tickets can be picked up starting Thursday afternoon at the Roshek Building lobby, 700 Locust St.; the county Democratic headquarters, 3250 Kennedy Circle, Suite 6; or the Loras College Alumni Campus Center, 1450 Alta Vista St.

Meanwhile, Romney is tentatively scheduled to hold a rally at the Dubuque Regional Airport around midday, the Dubuque Telegraph Herald reported Wednesday. Further details are still being worked out, according to Todd Dalsing of the airport's airfield operations.

The candidates' visits mark a final push for Iowa's six electoral votes in a tight race for the presidency. The visits will get attention across the border in western Wisconsin, too, which is also considered a battleground state.

Iowa is getting a flurry of visits by the candidates and their surrogates in the final days before the election. Romney campaigned Monday in Davenport. Former president Bill Clinton was campaigning across Iowa for Obama on Wednesday, and Vice President Joe Biden stops Thursday in Muscatine and Fort Dodge.

A new Hawkeye Poll showing Romney with a slight lead over Obama is probably all that's needed to explain why both candidates will be in the state again this weekend.

The results released Wednesday found the GOP challenger leading the president 45.2 percent to 44.4 percent - well within the 5.6 percent margin of error - among those of the 320 respondents who said they plan to vote.