Obama campaigns in Republican stronghold Texas

US President Barack Obama travels to Texas yesterday, hoping his supporters in the Republican bastion can help him close the funding gap with rival Mitt Romney ahead of November elections.
Obama heads first to San Antonio, a major city in southern Texas whose young mayor, Julian Castro, is a Democrat, before campaigning at an event in the state capital Austin, another rare Democratic enclave.
The second most populous US state after California, Texas is considered a lost cause for Democrats, who have not won a presidential majority there since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Despite his broad victory nationwide in 2008, Obama lost the Lone Star State by nearly 12 points to the then Republican presidential nominee, Arizona Senator John McCain.
Previously governed by former Republican president George W. Bush, the state is now ruled by another Republican governor, Rick Perry, whose own White House run fizzled out earlier this year after a string of gaffes.
A total of four Obama fundraisers are planned in Texas — two in each city — and they should yield a total of over $4 million in receipts, according to an AFP estimate based on numbers from the president’s campaign.