President Obama is visiting Manitowoc today, a place that White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod called a “typical American town in the heartland of our country.” Obama will also be visiting Orion Energy Systems which Axelrod calls an ideal choice to highlight Obama’s focus on innovation.
During last night’s State of the Union, Obama laid out a plan to focus on innovation, investment in infrastructure and called for a five-year spending freeze on a small part of the federal budget.
When asked by WRN whether Wisconsin’s loss to the GOP in November had anything to do with Obama’s choice to visit the state, Axelrod replied their priority is not the competition between Republicans and Democrats, rather how the US can better compete globally with jobs.
Appreciation of a bi-partisanship approach perked up during a conference call with some big name Wisconsin Republicans.
“Certainly I’ve been very consistent in saying that I will ally myself with anybody who understands what the cause of the problem is in our country,” said US Senator Ron Johnson.
The freshman lawmaker said the problem right now is government is too large and is stifling innovation and business. Johnson said corporate tax cuts are need for businesses to choose to invest in the US rather than other countries.
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus is hopeful of bi-partisanship but exhibited some skepticism with Obama based on past experiences.
“If I recall the President hardly invited a single Republican into the White House on health care until the bill was actually drafted.”
Priebus said the Presidential visit is a great time to reinforce Republicans pledge to curb government spending and create jobs.