Barnstorming Virginia to fire up Democrats for Barack Obama's presidential bid is something Terry McAuliffe says comes naturally for him.

McAuliffe is holding town hall events in Norfolk and Williamsburg Tuesday to talk about Obama's health care plan.

That would be the same Barack Obama he worked to defeat a few months ago when he was Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign chairman.

Some Democrats suggest it's a convenient conversion that gives a statewide practice lap to someone who is eyeing the 2009 race for governor.

McAuliffe acknowledges an interest in the race. But the former Democratic National Committee chairman won't commit one way or the other until after the November 4 election.

McAuliffe's name and face are familiar to Democrats.

But the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics says McAuliffe would have two problems. Larry J. Sabato says McAuliffe is "well to the left" of the Mark Warner model, and he has no discernible connection to Virginia government and politics.