Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's first campaign visit to Western Pennsylvania this morning may be marked more by what he hears in Monaca than what he says.

His stirring oratory has become one of the focal points of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, with New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton sometimes trying to use it against him in suggesting the two present a choice of style versus substance.

But Mr. Obama's scheduled 11:30 a.m. visit to Community College of Beaver County is billed as a "town meeting" rather than a speech. That means he is coming primarily to listen, said a campaign spokesman, Sean Smith. He'll likely devote more time to calling upon people with raised hands to ask him questions than to delivering any new message about America, the Bush administration or Mrs. Clinton.

"Senator Obama wanted to do a smaller, more intimate style of town hall event rather than a big speech," Mr. Smith said. "He wants a chance to hear directly from the voters in Western Pennsylvania."

The Illinois senator, who took a day off yesterday from public campaigning, has trailed Mrs. Clinton in polls of Pennsylvanians' preferences for the April 22 primary, and he is behind his rival in appearing in the Pittsburgh region as well. She spoke to several thousand supporters at Soldiers & Sailors Military Museum and Memorial in Oakland Friday, and was seen by tens of thousands attending the following day's St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Mr. Obama was originally scheduled to appear at the Penn State Beaver campus last week, but canceled it to return to Washington for votes on the Senate floor. His staff rescheduled his first local visit for this morning at the community college. It is on spring break -- as Penn State Beaver was last week -- which creates lesser disruption for the campus and makes logistics such as parking easier for attendees.

The public had an opportunity to claim free tickets to the event over the weekend, and Mr. Smith said all of those were taken by yesterday. Those who held tickets to the originally scheduled Penn State Beaver event may use those for admission.

The gymnasium in The Dome, the community college's signature building, holds about 3,000 people, said college President Joe Forrester, who was happy the timing of the rescheduled visit gave the school a chance to host a potential president.

"We all realize this is an historic time for our country," considering Mr. Obama's race and Mrs. Clinton's gender, Dr. Forrester said. "This is about an exchange of ideas that should engage not only our students but our entire community."

A registered Democrat, the college president declined to state publicly who he is backing in the race, but he praised Mr. Obama's track record of support for higher education, including community colleges. Dr. Forrester said he hopes to spend a couple of minutes discussing the importance of federal help with student financial aid, such as Pell Grants and tuition tax credits.

While it's likely this is only the first of multiple visits Mr. Obama will make to the Pittsburgh region over the next five weeks, no others are yet scheduled.