Scott Horsley

President Obama says the country has come too far in the last four years to change course now. He kicked off his re-election campaign Saturday with a pair of high-profile rallies in two pivotal states, Ohio and Virginia.

Obama acknowledged the economic recovery still has a long way to go. Yet he argued his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, would move the country backward, not forward.

Unsatisfied With Unemployment

President Obama made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan Tuesday, and delivered a prime-time address to the American public. While there, he signed a new, long-term partnership agreement with the Afghan government, and marked the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death with U.S. troops.

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For the president, next week is being billed as the official launch of his re-election campaign. Mr. Obama will be holding rallies in the swing states of Ohio and Virginia. But it would be hard to tell a difference from this week, when Mr. Obama made a tour of college campuses in three other battleground states.

President Obama on Wednesday visits students at the University of Iowa, where he'll again make a pitch for low-cost college loans. It's the last stop on a trip that's taken Obama to two other battleground states: Colorado and North Carolina. He's primarily reaching out this week to younger voters.