THE ROLLOUT CONTINUES.

The president-elect has plans on Friday:

President-elect Barack Obama will travel to Bedford Heights, Ohio to meet with workers and discuss an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which would aim to save or create three to four million new American jobs and make the long-term investments needed to build a 21st century economy.

President-elect Obama will tour the Cardinal Fastener & Specialty Company, a growing company with innovative production practices that manufactures parts used to construct wind turbines. President-elect Obama will discuss how companies like Cardinal Fastener and workers like those in Bedford Heights would benefit from an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which would aim to create nearly half a million American jobs by investing in clean energy like wind power.

President-elect Obama will tour the plant and then hold a meeting with workers on the factory floor.

For the new administration, taking advantage of inaugural excitement to focus on their policy priorities is a savvy move. Obama is demonstrating a healthy respect for how public opinion can sway legislators and help an ambitious spending program through the machinery of Washington. It may just be a coincidence, but Obama is visiting a state where the senior Republican senator, George Voinovich, just decided not to seek re-election. Two possible results: One, this visit could help convince Voinovich, who supported the TARP vote and the automaker bailout, that his constituents support the stimulus package. Two, it could help lay the groundwork for the Democrats to gain another senator from Ohio in 2010 -- if Obama can maintain his base of support in the crucial Midwestern state.

-- Tim Fernholz