Prepare yourself for Obama-mania, Lancaster County.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, whose rock star-like status and popularity among young voters vaulted him ahead in the bruising Democratic primary race, will campaign here on Monday.

The Illinois Democrat is expected to appear here, likely after noon, as part of his six-day "Road to Change" bus tour across the state, several sources with knowledge of the event told the New Era this morning.

Obama leads U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in delegates for the party convention and in the popular vote. But he trails the New York senator by double digits in Pennsylvania, which is certain to be a key battlegound state in November.

If he cannot win the state in the April 22 primary, he certainly wants to minimize a Clinton victory here and defuse her argument that only she can do well in big states.

The exact time and location of the Obama stop were not available, though one member of the campaign's state advisory team, Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray, said any such event would likely be downtown.

"If he came to Lancaster, it would surprise me if he did not stop in the city," Gray said.

He could not confirm the campaign stop here, but said he had been aware Lancaster was among the cities being considered in the bus trip.

"There's been all kinds of back and forth about where he's going to stop," Gray said. "It's a definite possibility he'll be in Lancaster."

The bus tour travels to Johnstown on Saturday and Penn State University in State College on Sunday.

Lancaster City Police officers and others in the local law-enforcement community were to meet with Secret Service agents about the Obama visit as soon as this afternoon, said Capt. Don Palmer, the acting city police chief.

He said the campaign has not yet told him when or where the event will be. "They're just saying Lancaster," Palmer said.

Obama's campaign stop here will be the second by a presidential candidate in the county in about two weeks. Clinton spoke to 2,300 cheering supporters at Millersville University's Pucillo Gymnasium on March 18.

Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain, the GOP's presumptive nominee, has not made a stop here yet, although a surrogate — former presidential candidate Mitt Romney — is set to speak at a banquet here on April 10.

Obama is kicking off his "Road to Change" bus tour Friday morning in Pittsburgh. He is scheduled to appear at a high school there in the afternoon. Obama's campaign says the bus tour will make stops across Pennsylvania before concluding Wednesday in the southeastern part of the state.

The campaign said Obama will speak with voters about "the need to change Washington in order to tackle challenges like creating jobs, improving our schools and making health care available to every American."

Debbie Mesloh, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, said she was not able to make public this morning any stops outside of Pittsburgh.

"It's a six-day tour through Pennsylvania, and it's an opportunity to meet with voters throughout the state," she said, "to talk about issues important to them."

During those six days, Obama will hold a mix of events, from smaller town-hall style meetings with voters to large rallies, she said. "He'll be talking about the economy, health care, making college affordable to all Americans," she said.

Obama has much work to do in the state, according to recent opinion polls. Clinton held a 22 percentage-point lead among registered Democrats in last week's Franklin & Marshall College poll. Her lead was 16 points among "likely" Democratic voters.

Though Lancaster County is solidly Republican, the Democratic Party has made significant gains in signing up voters here. With 86,690 Democratic voters as of Monday, the county is seen by the Obama and Clinton camps as vital to their campaigns.

State Rep. Mike Sturla, a Democrat from Lancaster and an Obama supporter, said he's been encouraging members of the senator's campaign team to stop in the city.

"I suggested he come Monday night and give a speech and stay over for a breakfast at Central Market Tuesday morning," Sturla said. "But that's just my wishful thinking.

"I haven't heard back yet. I've asked them to give a day or two's notice because I think we can rally a huge crowd," Sturla said. "Although I think we could rally a huge crowd on just a couple hours' notice, quite frankly."

Bruce Beardsley, who chairs the local Democratic Party, said news of any stop in Lancaster County Monday would likely not come until two or three days beforehand.

"We've haven't been advised yet," he said. "We have very open lines of communication with their campaign, and I would imagine we would be told as soon as it's likely."

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