Top Obama economic aides to tout record in Ohio

Some of President Barack Obama's top economic policy aides are heading to the pivotal battleground state of Ohio on Thursday to trumpet the administration's record on manufacturing. The trip, though packed full of election-year significance, was heralded as an official trip, not a political one.

National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling, Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank and Under Secretary of Defense Frank Kendall will visit Youngstown, Ohio, and hold a media roundtable there, the White House announced.

The officials will likely cite the auto-industry bailout championed by Obama. That initiative, though sharply criticized by many Republicans, including presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney, is popular in Ohio, where many jobs rely on the auto-parts sector.

The bailout is a staple of Obama's stump speech—a potentially potent political weapon in Ohio, a state vital to Romney's hopes of capturing the White House in November.