Because, says the White House, Obama is doing his job as chief executive, engaging with the American people. Republicans call the tour a campaign trip, but is it politics or business as usual? President Obama this week is hopscotching through politically vital Midwest states on a big black bus and holding town hall meetings on the economy. To the White House, it is business as usual, the sort of national listening tour that sitting chief executives do all the time. But Republican leaders say it’s politics, and they say it’s something taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund.