Obama tries to repeat Virginia win with bus tour

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama on Friday embarked on a two-day bus tour into the battleground state of Virginia, hoping to repeat his 2008 win in the state.

Obama's Virginia tour on Friday included three stops, including speeches at two high schools in Virginia Beach and Hampton, and remarks at an event at a Fire Station in Roanoke. He will participate in two more events in the state on Saturday.

Obama used the speeches to drive home his latest message on tax, a proposal to extend Bush-era tax cuts for those making less than 250,000 dollars a year, accusing Republicans of holding tax cuts " hostage" and not being "serious" on deficit reduction, as the GOP wants to extend the tax cuts for the top two percent of earners.

The president also hammered the GOP for the latest attempt to overturn the healthcare reform law, which was upheld by the Supreme Court last month. He attacked Mitt Romney on his investments when he was working at Bain Capital, a private equity firm. The Obama campaign has accused Romney of investing in companies that outsourced American jobs.

The Virginia bus tour was the second one since Obama announced his reelection bid, following a two-day bus tour last week through battleground states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. He carried all three states in the 2008 election.