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COLUMBUS — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will kick off a two-day Ohio "American Jobs Tour" on Thursday, Oct. 9, with a rally at Fifth Third Field in Dayton.

The 11:20 a.m. rally is free and no tickets are required. Doors will open at 9 a.m.

On Thursday, he also will campaign in Cincinnati and Portsmouth in southern Ohio, a region where Hillary Clinton clobbered Obama in the Democratic primary.

The Cincinnati rally is set for 3 p.m. at Ault Park Pavilion, 5090 Observatory Circle. Doors open at 1 p.m. Those wishing to attend either the Dayton or Cincinnati appearance are encouraged to RSVP at www.oh.barackobama.com.

Thursday's appearances will be Obama's first Ohio campaign trip since Sept. 9.

John McCain, Obama's Republican opponent, and Sarah Palin, McCain's vice presidential running mate, also were in Ohio on Sept. 9 for a rally in Lebanon and McCain has visited the state three times since then.

With Obama leading in polls both nationally and recently in Ohio, McCain's greater attention to the Buckeye state reveals its importance to his chances for success on Nov. 4, political scientist John Green said in an e-mail.

"It will be very difficult for McCain to win without Ohio. Obama has many more ways to win and a number of these do not include Ohio," said Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.

McCain and Palin will get to the state a day earlier than Obama for a Wednesday, Oct. 8, rally in Strongsville, a Cleveland suburb, before Palin makes a solo appearance on Thursday in Wilmington.

Details of Obama's Friday schedule will be announced soon, his campaign said.