TROY — Ray Mabus, a former Mississippi governor who is now a senior adviser to Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign, said he has found enthusiasm for Obama in rural towns across Ohio.

Mabus visited Troy on Saturday, Nov. 1, as part of a two-day visit to 11 small communities across Ohio, one of 24 states Mabus has visited since signing up to work for Obama's campaign in 2007. Obama has established a campaign office in Troy, among other smaller communities.

"You don't get a chance very often to work for somebody as transformative as Barack Obama," Mabus said of the Illinois senator. "I think he has the opportunity to be an incredible president."

Mabus, visiting towns from Fremont to Marion to Bucyrus, said residents there appreciate Obama's promise to develop alternative energy sources and to extend broadband services into rural areas that lack them.

Mabus served as Mississippi's governor from 1988 to 1992. He served as President Bill Clinton's ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994 to 1996.

Paul Lindsay, a spokesman for the Ohio campaign of Republican presidential nominee John McCain, said Obama is failing to win over rural voters. Obama doesn't understand the values of Ohio's rural communities, Lindsay said.

Obama, McCain and their running mates, and others campaigning for them, have been all across Ohio in recent weeks as Election Day nears. Mitt Romney, a former rival of McCain's for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, is scheduled to campaign for McCain today in Toledo and Monday in Columbus.