Mitt Romney is planning a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on Saturday, The Daily and The Washington Post reported Thursday, another sign the campaign believes it can win in the state.
Dan Hirschhorn of The Daily, who first reported the plans, quoted two Pennsylvania Republicans who said Romney is almost certain to appear there:
"I'm 99 percent certain he's coming," one senior level Republican official told The Daily. "It's going to be a huge rally and it's going to be very successful."
"They said all along, 'if you get within a certain margin we’ll consider it,'" another top Republican said. "They said they'd come the final week, and we got there."
The Washington Post's Phillip Rucker confirmed with the campaign that Romney will visit Pennsylvania as part of a broader tour.
Paul Ryan will be in Middleton, Pa., for a rally on Saturday. Romney's oldest son, Tagg, is in the state on Thursday for a "sportsmen event."
Romney hasn't been in Pennsylvania since the state's Republican primary, which he won.
Polling shows President Barack Obama with an edge in the state. Still, Republicans are arguing they can close the gap and are airing ads there in support of Romney, including a $2.1 million ad buy there by pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future this week.
The Obama campaign dismissed the idea that Romney will be able to win in Pennsylvania.
"With less than a week to go and consistently down in must-win states, Mitt Romney’s campaign is desperately trying to find a path to 270 electoral votes with no avail. In Pennsylvania, Romney and his special interest allies are throwing the kitchen sink trying to win over voters in five days who have soundly rejecting his backward looking policies," said Michael Czin, Obama campaign's northeast regional press secretary. "While the Romney campaign is flailing, we’re executing our get out the vote program, just as we’ve planned for over a year."
Sam Stein contributed reporting.
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