Last Friday, President Barack Obama traveled to Maryland and advertised his desire to help small businesses, about as close to an apple pie issue as exists in American politics today. He donned safety glasses, toured a Highlandtown machine shop and, with those industrial devices as a photogenic backdrop, flogged his plan to give business owners a tax break for hiring new workers.

This Friday, Obama is traveling . . . to Maryland. He plans to visit . . . a small business. The purpose of the trip is to advertise . . . . his desire to help small businesses.

Hey, it's one of the secrets to success in politics: find a message, stick to it, and repeat it, over and over, and hope that it'll sink in. 2010 is an election year, after all.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama, on this week's Maryland stop, will "talk about some of the issues that we've talked about relating to small business -- tax cuts, increased lending, getting our economy moving again."

The venue this time will be closer to the White House: the Maryland suburbs of Washington--specifically, Lanham in Prince George's County, which straddles the D.C. beltway. As you recall, the main objective of Obama's Baltimore trip was to meet with House Republicans, who were holding a retreat at the Inner Harbor. The small-business-jobs-promotion stop was an add-on.

Still, it's Friday. And Obama is visiting Maryland. Again.

Perhaps it's the state's reward for Virginia's recent decision to replace its Democratic governor, a close Obama ally, with a Republican. And Gov. Martin O'Malley, whom Obama seems to like, may have a race on his hands, so anything the president does that might rub off on a key Democratic candidate probably doesn't hurt.

The latest Obama jobs event, like the one in Baltimore, is not open to the public. It is scheduled for just after noon, weather permitting. Same routine: a tour of the business, followed by a short speech.

A wild card is the near-panic brought on by the prospect of heavy snow. It will be interesting to see if Obama's motorcade plays havoc with the thousands of folks in the Washington area trying for an early escape from work as the snowflakes start to fall.

Before Obama gets to Lanham, he is scheduled to travel to the Northern Virginia suburbs, for a memorial service honoring CIA employees killed in a recent terrorist attack on a CIA station in Afghanistan.

After his Maryland stop, Obama is due back at the White House for another presidential ceremony -- in honor of the 2009 Little League World Champions from Chula Vista, California.

All in a snowy day's work. See you next Friday.