Obama seeks support in 'red' states
LAWRENCE, Kan. — President Barack Obama likes to say there are no red states or blue states, just the United States of America. Yet his first two stops on the traditional sell-the-speech tour after giving the annual State of the Union address were in ... Republican “red” states. The White House says the president’s travel itinerary was not a coincidence.
Idaho, the first stop, also happened to be a state Obama had not visited as president before this week.
“Idaho is a good example of a state where they have made an effort to invest in those kinds of programs that ensures that middle-class families have access to skills and training that are critically important to getting a middle-class job,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters traveling with Obama, explaining that Obama wanted to visit to show that Republican support exists for the kinds of programs the president is pushing nationally.
Obama has emphasized skills training throughout his presidency, even putting Vice President Joe Biden in charge of reviewing federal programs.
Earnest noted that in Idaho and in Kansas, Obama’s stop today, Republicans hold the governor’s office, control the Legislature and make up 100 percent of each state’s congressional delegation and are moving ahead with policies that dovetail with Obama’s priorities.
Back in Washington, though, congressional Republicans were chilly to Obama’s call for billions of dollars in new spending to make community college free for most students, provide paid sick leave to workers who don’t get that time off and expand tax credits for child care.
Obama wants to pay for it by raising taxes on the wealthiest individuals, a virtual nonstarter in a Congress now under complete Republican control.
