For Obama, Virginia is a key to White House

For Obama, Virginia is a key to White House

If you want to gauge President Obama's chances for re-election, keep your eye on the state closest to the White House: Virginia.

If Obama wins Virginia (again), he almost surely wins re-election -- which explains his presence in the commonwealth over the next two days.

A new Washington Post poll gives Obama a 7-point lead over Mitt Romney in Virgina, as both candidates focus on a state once thought to be solidly Republican.

In 2008, Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Virginia since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

If Republicans are going to dislodge Obama, they will have to win back states he won four years ago -- and Virginia appears to be a must-have, given its reputation as a once-reliable Republican state.

That in turn explains Romney's appearances in Virginia for two days this week. The presumptive Republican nominee also plans to deliver the commencement address at Liberty University in Lynchburg on May 12.

"This may well be the state that decides who the next president is," Romney said this week.

Obama is also putting a high premium on a state that can ensure his re-election. (The president also keeps high hopes for another GOP-leaning Southern state he carried in 2008: North Carolina.)

This morning, the president travels to Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Va., to speak about student loans.

On Saturday, Obama kicks off overt campaign events with rallies at two colleges -- Ohio State University and Virginia Commonwealth University.