Obama: The Bridge is Over

POTUS takes beef with GOP straight to their own hood

President Obama is making his jobs proposal the focus of his Fall agenda as he travels across the country; playing hardball with his opponents. In part, the President will give a speech in Ohio today concerning the reconstruction of the Brent Spence Bridge.

The bridge has been in need of repair for years. Jumpstarting the project would create ample jobs for those in construction. As reported by The Washington Post,

“Obama will make his pitch Thursday for $447 billion in tax cuts, jobless aid and public works projects at the Brent Spence Bridge south of Cincinnati, an aging span that connects House Speaker John Boehner’s state of Ohio with Kentucky, home of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. The politics are clear.

“The point here is that it’s not an accident that we’re headed to that area,” said White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer. Strategically, the visit serves Obama’s legislative and political goals. The president is making his jobs bill the focus of his fall agenda amid broad public disapproval over his handling of the economy. The trip also raises Obama’s profile in Ohio, a state that he won in 2008 but that George W. Bush also won twice.

Both house speaker Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell view the visit as a ploy to win over public opinion -- even approval from African Americans are at an all-time low for Obama right now, 58% by Washington Post’s count, down from 83% just five months ago.

White House communications director Pfeiffer also said, “All across those states there are roads, bridges, schools that unemployed construction workers could be building right now if the Republican leaders in Congress were willing to work with the president and the Democrats to do something that would create jobs in the economy,”