Thinking Ahead

From Ben Smith:

Robert Gibbs said today that Obama will visit Elkhart, Indiana next week to push the stimulus package

"This is not designed to cajole any particular member of Congress," he said.

Indiana has another political significance, though: It was perhaps the reddest prize Obama picked up last November, and one into which Obama's aides put a great deal of effort.

So the symbolism of Indiana is, as much as anything else, about reminding the Congress of the breadth and power of Obama's electoral mandate, with an eye to 2010 and 2012.