It’s 61 degrees and sunny in downtown Tampa as the crowd is filling Bob Martinez Sports Center at the picturesque University of Tampa, where President Obama and Vice President Biden are scheduled to hold a town hall meeting this morning.

Here’s what we’re watching for today:

1.) Gov. Charlie Crist: The Republican has caught heat for supporting Obama’s stimulus package. And he’s fallen in the polls largely due to his primary opponent repeatedly reminding the conservative faithful of this picture of the two men hugging at an event in Fort Myers last year. Crist says he’s going to meet Obama when Air Force One lands at 11:50 a.m. to give him a stern talking about the need to follow though on his promise of bipartisanship. How will the President of the United States react to a lecture from a one-term Republican governor?

2.) TRAIN!!: It’s a long shot, but I kind of hope Obama quotes Wil from “Stand By Me” in formally awarding the state’s $1.25 billion stimulus grant to start building a high-speed rail line from Tampa to Orlando. Florida is one of nine areas around the country to receive a total of $8 billion in high-speed rail grants.

3.) Q&A: It’s a nice peg for Obama to announce the high-speed rail grant, but this trip was planned to drive home the themes of his first State of the Union speech in a politically crucial city. The reactions to the speech from the political establishment fell along partisan lines. And while the town hall crowd should be pretty friendly, Obama’s team hasn’t screened questions before in Florida. Voters are as angry in Florida as they anywhere. Don’t be surprised if a barb or two thrown.

4.) I’m at the event, but don’t get a question. In fact, the questions are kind of expensive (free tickets were going for hundreds of dollars on Craigslist). But I could, I’d ask the president for specifics on where he thinks Congress can advance the health care bill. Last night, he asked lawmakers to take a second look at the proposal. Should lawmakers break the bill into pieces and vote on individual proposals?

What would you ask?

Tags: Barack Obama, town hall

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