http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/196416-obama-to-travel-to-four-states-after-state-of-the-unionJanuary 25, 2014, 12:00 pm
Obama to travel to four states after SOTU
By Justin Sink
President Obama will travel to four states in the week following the State of the Union to drum up support for proposals he will outline in his annual address, according to the White House.
“With some action on all our parts, we can help more jobseekers find work, and more working Americans find the economic security they deserve,” White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said in an email to supporters Saturday.
“That's why, in the week following the speech, President Obama will travel to communities across the country — including Prince George’s County Maryland, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and Nashville, before returning to the White House to outline new efforts to help the long-term unemployed.”
The president traditionally undertakes a whistlestop tour following his address, seeking to build momentum for his policy agenda. Last year, he visited Asheville, N.C., Atlanta, and Chicago after the speech.
Obama will also participate in a national “Google+ Hangout” three days after his address Tuesday night to Congress, according to an item on the technology company’s blog billing the event as the first-ever virtual presidential road trip.
“He’ll hop into Google+ Hangouts with people from across the United States to answer their questions and hear their thoughts about the topics he addressed in his speech,” the blog post says.
Users can post 60-second video questions for Obama on YouTube or Google+ using the hashtag #AskObama2014.
While Pfeiffer revealed where the president would be traveling after the address, he offered few new clues to what the substance of his speech would be.
The White House spokesman said that Obama would organize the address around the themes of “opportunity, action, and optimism.” He added that the president plans to “lay out a set of real, concrete, practical proposals to grow the economy, strengthen the middle class, and empower all who hope to join it.”
“The core idea is as American as they come: If you work hard and play by the rules, you should have the opportunity to succeed,” Pfeiffer writes. “Your ability to get ahead should be based on your hard work and ambition and who you want to be, not just the raw circumstance of who you are when you're born.”