Location, location, location

WASHINGTON (CNN) It shouldn't be any surprise that two of the three states President Barack Obama visits next week are battleground states.

According to a White House release Friday, the president will travel to northern Virginia Tuesday to hold a town hall. Obama won the state in 2008, the first Democrat to carry Virginia in a presidential election since 1964. With an open Senate seat to defend as well, Virginia is a crucial state for Democrats in 2012.

The president also holds a town hall in Reno, Nevada on Thursday. Obama carried that state as well in 2008, the first Democrat to capture Nevada since Bill Clinton won it in 1996. Like Virginia, there's a crucial contest for the Senate as well, but in this case it's an open seat that is currently held by the GOP.

In between the two events, the president also holds a town hall Wednesday at Facebook Headquarters in Palo Alto, California. California is safe and lucrative politically for Obama. He will also be the main attraction at fund raisers in San Francisco and Los Angeles for his re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee.