President To Speak In Waukesha At Manufacturing Plant

Amid some political intrigue over who won’t be at the event, President Obama is scheduled to speak in Waukesha this morning.

President Obama is slated to talk about job training and the economy at a General Electric plant where gas-fired engines are made. Much has been made of news that Waukesha’s mayor apparently won’t be attending, that Gov. Scott Walker only plans a brief meeting with the president when Air Force One arrives in Milwaukee…and that Democratic candidate for governor Mary Burke will be campaigning in western Wisconsin, though Burke reportedly spoke to the president yesterday by phone.

Carroll University political science Professor Lilly Goren says it’s possible Burke doesn’t want to be photographed with the president, but on the other hand, Goren says, Burke isn’t yet the Democrats’ nominee. “It is the president of the United States, and often times even if there’s some concern with regard to electoral politics, there is also the stature of the office itself.”

Goren says the Democratic president’s expected message about more training to keep manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin may be aimed at reaching across any partisan divide in heavily Republican Waukesha county.