Posted on 01/23/2012 3:14:52 PM PST by fivecatsandadog
President Barack Obama is giving the State of the Union speech on Tuesday - but a speech he plans to give at the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus on Friday might be of more interest to Michiganders.
Obama will speak at the U-M Al Glick Field House on Friday, according to a White House official who spoke this afternoon to AnnArbor.com.
According to a source familiar with the plan, the speech is expected to take place at around 9:30 a.m.
U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said that while the school has been talking to the White House, the event has not been officially confirmed.
"We do not yet have an official confirmation from the White House and we must wait on official confirmation," Coleman said. "We would like that confirmation, but we don’t have it yet."
Coleman declined to comment further.
The event will be Obama's second speech at the university since assuming office. Obama gave a May 2010 commencement speech at the Big House.
Like the commencement speech, Obama's upcoming trip is an official White House visit and not a campaign event, sources told AnnArbor.com.
That's two more visits than Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, who never visited Ann Arbor. Aside from Obama, the most recent sitting president to visit U-M was George H. W. Bush in May 1991.
The Al Glick Fieldhouse at U-M, near Michigan Stadium, is where Obama is scheduled to speak.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com The speech is a part of a trip to various swing states this week. According to The Detroit News, Obama will be staying overnight in Detroit on Thursday.
Obama's office appointed Coleman as co-chair of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in July. That council is intended to spark economic development through technology and early-stage business ideas, AnnArbor.com reported earlier this year.
Recently, Coleman sent a letter to Obama asking him to prioritize funding for public universities.
During Obama's commencement speech at Michigan Stadium in 2010, he urged graduates to actively participate in government and respectfully disagree with opposing viewpoints.
The scheduled speech comes a week after U-M Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest warned the school's Board of Regents that federal funding for research is likely to decline next year.
Andy LaBarre, vice president of government relations for the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce, released a statement from the chamber on Obama's visit.
"We're excited the president is coming to Washtenaw County," he said. "While we don’t know what he's going to talk about yet, we hope he follows up the State of The Union speech with more depth on transportation infrastructure development, educational investments and of course anything related to economic growth."
Mayor John Hieftje said the president's security team was in town over the weekend and has been working with the Ann Arbor Police Department on a security plan for Friday.
"Obviously it's always an honor to have the president of the United States visit your city and it's a big event," Hieftje said.
From a political standpoint, Hieftje said Obama's support for the auto industry bailouts should help his chances of carrying Michigan this year.
"It turned out to be a great thing for our state … and that money is being paid back," he said, noting the progress GM and Chrysler have made because of those loans.
"The auto industry is still incredibly significant to our state and had Chrysler and GM failed we would really be in a deep, deep hole," Hieftje said.
A representative of U.S. Rep. John Dingell's office said a plan is still being worked out for how tickets are going to be distributed, including how many will be given to the College Democrats to distribute and how many will be made available for the community at large.
Cleveland Chandler, chairman of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party, commented on the significance of the president's visit.
"I feel personally, and the Washtenaw County Democrat Party feels, that this is one of the most important elections to come around in a long time given that a lot is a stake," he said. "In our view, with the things that are happening in Michigan, the government is shifting toward rich people and not looking out for the middle class."
In addition to federal races, Chandler said the party is hoping Obama's presence in Michigan helps the Democrats as they seek to take back the state House this year.
"It's obviously very exiting to have him coming, the leader of the free world and all that, being responsible for saving the domestic auto industry and helping to get Michigan's economy back on track," said state Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor. "It's an exciting opportunity for Ann Arbor and I hope to be attendance to hear what he has to say."
AnnArbor.com will be updating this report.
If my kid went to that school, today they’d be transferring.
U of M jumps the shark.
It’s likely to be a freindly crowd as the U of M is Berkly East.
Just pissed off a lot of conservative alumni, but they are so arrogant they don’t care. It is a socialist kabutz, you have no idea how leftist Ann Arbor is...
I work there. Too soon to retire, dammit.
Go to the article and scroll down to the reader’s comments. That’ll give you a good idea of how “left” it is. I read down to number 20 and couldn’t stand it anymore, all the liberal bravado...... blech.
He is going to what is his base, he should have Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti wrapped up.
Just like when he went to Detroit, IMHO it was about securing the base, because It is in trouble.
IMHO they may not vote for Newt, but they may stay home, he can't have that or he looses Wastenaw County. It is about the electoral votes.
He can't loose Wayne, Wastenaw, and Macomb County or he looses the State.
I'll say it again, Michigan will be the battle royal in the 12' election.
I think he’s stalking me.
He comes to Michigan a lot.
So I guess he will be in a court room in Georgia on Thur. with all the requested documentation to defend his eligibility to be on the Georgia ballot!
I might feel better if we could get any republicans to bother coming here. We haven’t seen anyone campaigning here since Cain left the race. Unfortunately I think Cain was the only one who could beat Romney here.
I am one of those conservative graduates, but I don’t think I am arrogant. Then again, I graduated with pretty high standing from the College of Engineering.
This was the late 60’s, and I remember pushing my way through these types of leftists who were blockading the engineering buildings (back then it was defense contracts) to get to my classes. A few of those instances were unpleasant to say the least.
Sounds like not much has changed (including the split between the humanities/social sciences and the “hard” sciences).
My apologies, I meant the Professors and the Apparatchiks who run the place.i.e. they are deft to an Alum such as yourself, my sentence structure didn't convey that, sorry.
BTW, I had the pleasure of knowing the Late Dr. Lesher ( aero-engrg ) what a fine gentleman,
I wish I could say my university knows better.. Purdue had Bill Ayers on campus for a talk... I was mortified. And I thought Purdue would be classy........NOT
It doesn’t sound like anything as changed. I went there in the early 80s, and it was a liberal bastion then as well. We conservatives were outnumbered.
He’ll be issuing his marching orders at U-M. There is no other reason for him to speak there.
“WOLVERINES!”
“...the split between the humanities/social sciences and the “hard” sciences”
2 + 2 = How could they ever have decided that the planet needs to be saved without depending on “data” coming out of some of those hard sciences?
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