An announcement came out on late Thursday that Obama will be visiting my town, Warrensburg, Missouri this Wednesday.
The topic will be jobs.
It seems he will be at the regional university (where I teach).
We've been thinking about why Warrensburg. Obama actually carried the two in 2008 by a handful of votes -- neither Gore nor Kerry did. Clinton probably took the two too, but the county had one of the largest percentages for Perot in both the 1992 and 1996.
This was Ike Skelton's district. He was Chair of the House Armed Services Committee and was defeated in 2010 by Missouri's Michelle Bachman but she doesn't have Bachmann's intelligence.
Warrensburg is about 10 miles from Whiteman Air Force Base (home of the B-2 bomber) so there will be no great tie up of traffic in Kansas City which is about 60 miles west of Warrensburg). A friend who works at the base tells me the entourage that accompanies the President will by landing there but Whiteman doesn't have the facilities for Air Force One (I find that hard to believe). However, it can come in at the airport in KC and then helicopter to Warrensburg.
I have a question. Does anyone have experience with contacts the Obama's advance team makes the state and local Democratic Parties?
Below some speculation on why Warrensburg
Why is Warrensburg a place to talk about jobs?
The hospital was upgraded with money from the stimulus.
There is a major pipeline project coming through the county that will carry tar sands oil to Oklahoma.
Several years ago Clinton spoke at graduate student graduation ceremony because the university entered into an contract that would make the entire campus more energy efficient and the efficiencies paid for the costs of all the improvements. He talked about how this would be a model for public buildings all over the country. <-- this is my best guess.
Finally the university has entered into an agreement with a high school district to have students do internships with major corporations in Kansas City and get their college degree.
We have an Amtrak station, too.
I would like any experiences you might have with the advance team.