Obama embarking on three-city tour after State of the Union

President Obama will circle the country in the days following the State of the Union, with stops in Asheville, N.C., Atlanta, Ga., and his adopted hometown of Chicago.

Obama will stop in North Carolina on Wednesday, Georgia on Thursday, and Illinois on Friday, the White House announced on Sunday. Administration officials did not provide details about the time and location of the public events, but the president will likely make only day trips to each of the stops.

Obama is likely to use the visits to advocate for policy proposals introduced in the State of the Union, as he has done after prior addresses to Congress. Last year, Obama traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Phoenix, Ariz. for events the day after his speech. In 2011, he traveled to Manitowoc, Wis., and in 2010, he and Vice President Joe Biden visited Tampa, Fla.

The president is expected to focus his State of the Union address primarily on economic themes, arguing for investments in infrastructure while pushing Congress to compromise on the looming sequester. The president is also likely to push the immigration and gun-control proposals he has advocated in recent weeks.

"The economy will be central to this speech and how we grow the economy so that everybody can participate, a fair shot, pay your fair share," Stephanie Cutter, the deputy campaign manager on Obama's re-election campaign, told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. "But the other things that he does lay out, he'll lay out the looming deadline on the sequester, the tough choices that we have to make around it, and the consequences if we let the sequester go into effect, and, you know, cuts to some pretty critical programs."

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