President Obama visits Louisiana hurricane aftermath before make-or-break Democratic convention

Barack Obama broke off from the election race today to visit communities battered by Hurricane Isaac in Louisiana.

More than 200,000 people in the state are still without power and thousands more are homeless or coping with flooding after storms last week ravaged the Gulf Coast around New Orleans.

The President was set to inspect storm-damaged areas and view recovery efforts before addressing reporters at Saint John Parish, the White House said.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited the state on Friday.

Yesterday Mr Obama and vice-president Joe Biden campaigned in three battleground states, as delegates descended on the Democratic national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Mr Obama picked the city in part to help boost his chances of holding on to the state, which he wrested from the Republicans in 2008.

Some 800 protesters marched through the streets around the convention hall, highlighting corporate greed and opposing US drone strikes.

One of the key speeches at the convention will be by former presidential candidate John Kerry, who will trumpet Mr Obama’s national security record.

The Massachusetts senator, who is seen as a potential second-term secretary of state, is expected to highlight the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and Mr Obama’s plan to end the Afghanistan war.

Mr Romney spent yesterday at his New Hampshire holiday home.