Obama sets off on Midwest bus tour

President Barack Obama left on Monday for a three-day tour of the Midwest, where he'll be looking to ease anxiety over the economy and job growth.

His trip will take in three battleground states. First stop is Minnesota, then Iowa – where Republican Michele Bachmann came on top in last weekend's straw poll – before he finishes in Illinois.

Fox News said Obama was on a mission to save his own job, while at the same time easing Americans' concerns about theirs.

A spokesperson for the White House earlier described the tour as official presidential business, saying Obama would be speaking to ordinary Americans about the economic difficulties in their communities.

The White House has denied that the Republican straw poll in Iowa influenced the decision to visit.

During talks in local town halls, Obama will likely outline the contrasts between the Republican approach to the economy with his own ideas, reported Fox News.

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Obama's bus tour comes during one of the most difficult moments of his presidency – on the back on Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, amid global financial market volatility, and risks of contagion from Europe's debt crisis.

Bloomberg said Obama would be looking to boost business confidence and job growth by encourage consumers to keep spending.

Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody's Analytics, said the economy would either make a slow recovery, or go into double dip recession:

It's the administration's hope that if the president is out there, talking up the economy, it will prevent a downturn.

Regardless of whether Obama is on official White House business, or on the campaign trail, Bloomberg says the health of the economy and the U.S. debt burden are certain to be central election issues at the polls in 2012.