
A rock band made up of members of the U.S. Navy warms up the crowd at NAS-JAX. President Obama is scheduled to arrive this afternoon. (Bender | Post)
President Barack Obama will use the backdrop of a FPL solar energy plant in DeSoto County tomorrow to announce the nation’s largest investment of stimulus money so far in clean energy, a White House source said.
The money will be used to build a “smart grid” in Florida and across the country. The project will be pitched as a dependable way to deliver renewable, domestic power like the kind produced in DeSoto. The event will be packaged with an announcement from Vice President Biden, who will not be in Florida, about energy efficient automobiles.
Moments ago, Obama landed in Jacksonville where he’ll address about 3,000 men and women at Naval Air Station-Jacksonville. Read his prepared remarks here.
Later, he’ll travel to Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami Beach, where he’ll host a fundraiser for Democratic Congressional candidates, including U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the frontrunner for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination.
It’s the second consecutive stimulus-related trip to Florida for Obama. He was last in the state in February, campaigning in Fort Myers for Congress to approve his $787 billion stimulus package.
Republican Gov. Charlie Crist appeared with Obama at the event, welcoming the money for the cash-strapped state. But Crist has been criticized by his fellow Republicans for supporting the stimulus money and will not join Obama in the state today or tomorrow. Crist is in Broward County today visiting the Joe DiMaggio Children’s hospital and meeting with the United South & Eastern Tribes, Inc.
Incidentally, state CFO Alex Sink, the probable Democratic gubernatorial candidate, will not appear in Jacksonville with Obama, whose approval ratings have taken a beating in Florida. Sink will meet Obama in Miami and attend the fundraiser, a campaign spokesman said.
Obama, meanwhile, is not expected to make much news this afternoon. He is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan, but an election there mired in fraud accusations has delayed action from the White House.
There was news this morning of two separate helicopter crashes in Kabul that killed 14 Americans, making today one of the deadliest days for U.S. troops in the Afghanistan war. Today will also be Obama’s first public appearance since 150 were killed and another 500 injured in bombings this weekend in Baghdad.
But the president’s trip today initially appeared to be little more than a stopover on the way to Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami Beach tonight, where Obama will host a fundraiser for Democratic Congressional candidates. U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the party’s expected nominee for the U.S. Senate race, will be traveling with Obama.
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