The Republican and Democratic tickets will campaign Labor Day weekend in key battleground states in advance of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.
After a joint campaign appearance with Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) Friday morning in Lakeland, Fla., Romney departed for Louisiana, where he visited those affected by Hurricane Isaac.
"I’m here to learn and obviously to draw some attention to what’s going here," Romney told Gov. Bobby Jindal, according to the Washington Times. "So that people around the country know that people down here need help."
Romney was invited to the region by Jindal, who has pressured the administration in the last week over the federal response to the storm. The Republican presidential nominee was originally intended to campaign with Ryan in Virginia Friday.
The White House announced late Friday that President Obama would tour areas affected by Isaac during a Monday trip to Louisiana. Jindal said Friday the visits by Romney and the president are not political.
While Romney was in Louisiana, President Obama spoke to soldiers at Fort Bliss—the El Paso, Texas, Army base where the president declared the U.S. combat mission in Iraq over exactly two years ago. Obama will campaign this weekend in Toledo, Ohio.
Vice President Joe Biden and Ryan, meanwhile, campaigned Friday in Ohio and Virginia, respectively.
Biden campaigned Friday in Lordstown, Ohio, where he criticized sharply the Republican nominee for vice president.
The vice president later introduced himself to a table of Greeks as "Joe Bidenopoulos" during a lunchtime stop.
Ryan appeared in Richmond, Va., with Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and said Republicans needed to offer more than just criticisms of President Obama.
"We are not just going to go to you and say, 'Vote against the other guy because he’s no good,'" Ryan said, according to ABC News. "You deserve more than that. The record’s no good, we’re offering solutions. We’re offering specific ideas."
"We’re saying, 'Here’s how you take these principles that built America–liberty, freedom, free enterprise, self-determination, government by consent of the governed,'" Ryan continued. "By the way, the government works for us, not the other way around. And of all people who should understand that, it’s Virginians. It’s Virginians that gave us this doctrine."