Obama expects to get an earful on Midwest bus tour

President Barack Obama will be listening and learning when he visits northeast Iowa next week, administration officials say.

He'll be focusing his attention specifically on rural America, although announcements he likely will make may have broader applications, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said Friday.

Obama's visit will "underscore the importance of the significant contribution agriculture is making to the country ... a contribution that is often not fully appreciated," Vilsack, now the secretary of agriculture, said in a conference call with reporters.

The president will use his three-day, campaign-style bus tour of Midwestern states as a way to engage in a conversation with the American people, to talk about how the economy is affecting them and ideas they have on how the government can help them, added Dan Pfeiffer, White House communications director.

"He can talk to them about his vision for moving this country forward," he said.

"His focus will be on the economy, generally, and rural America, particularly," Pfeiffer said when asked if the president would be laying out policies to address the larger economic issues facing the nation.

"If you're referring to what the president might have to say about a set of ideas for creating jobs not only in rural America but all across the country, that is not something this bus trip is about. That will come later," Pfeiffer said.

The president will hold five public events over three days in Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.

Obama will visit Seed Savers Exchange in rural Decorah for a question-and-answer session with about 500 people. The White House has reserved the entire Hotel Winneshiek in Decorah and 60 rooms at Luther College, according to college officials.

On Tuesday, Obama will hold a rural economic forum at Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta.