BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — To offer a rebuttal to President Barack Obama, Republicans are dispatching Gov. Bobby Jindal to some of the same towns Obama is touring in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Jindal is a potential vice presidential nominee for Republican Mitt Romney.

Obama is departing Thursday on a two-day bus tour of Ohio and Pennsylvania, offering a defense of his economic policies and his decision to rescue U.S. automakers while raising more questions about Romney’s business record.

Obama’s 250-mile “Betting on America” bus tour is taking him through several northern Ohio communities where he received strong support in 2008. The tour also will take him into western Pennsylvania with a stop in Pittsburgh.

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