UPDATED: 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 11: President Obama plans to tour the Linamar plant about 11 a.m. on Wednesday. He’ll talk about some of the economic proposals he plans to unveil in his State of the Union address.
UPDATED: 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 8: Local Democratic Party Chairman Emmet Carney confirms presidential visit.
UPDATED 3:28 p.m. Thursday: According to WLOS, the White House plans a day trip to Asheville Wednesday February 13, (the day after the president’s State of the Union address) for an event.
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WLOSer Ingrid Allstaedt tweets the news:
Breaking: Source tells me The White House is looking for 45-70 rooms for 7 nights starting tomorrow.
That’s the tidbit, so let the speculation begin. Could President Obama and he First Lady be returning for yet another Asheville vacation? Or could Vice President Joe Biden be on his way? Other top White House officials?
30 Comments
He will only be here for three hours, just long enough for a pro-union rant at a greenwashed factory.
GOP-ruled NC is no longer the happy vacay spot for the caliph of the faithful (all blessings on His name!)
Mr. President,
Please consider “Employee Number One Payroll Tax Exemption” and eliminate the self-employment tax. Call me. Let’s chat.
JW
I’ve created a useful post that you cut and paste into any conversation about Obama or Bush or any other politician ‘He’s ruining the country’. Then attach a picture of yourself covered in Cheeto dust watching the Real Housewives of Newark
“It’s really a shame to encounter another Obama zombie.”
John, I’m truly curious as to why you’d think I’m some kind of shill for the president simply because I’m a realist who can admit that America is as deeply flawed as any other place. We do not have the best educational system in this country, nor the best healthcare system, nor the highest standard of living in the world. We have consistently throughout our history treated everyone who was not a wealthy, straight white male like something we’ve scraped off our shoe, and we’ve engaged in occasional bouts of genocide and empire-building. It’s a mark of maturity to be able to admit when your country, however much you love it, is wrong — and we’ve been wrong many, many times and there are things that are very, very wrong with us now.
Grow up and admit it.
Grow up?? Listen up asshole. I’m a freedom loving veteran who has spent most of my adult life dodging bullets for this country so that sniveling little twits like you can run around hating her. This is a great country with an out of control Federal government. Medicare is broke. Medicaid is broke. Social Security is broke. The post office is broke, and you think Obamacare is going to be just fine. Here’s a newsflash genius. It’s going to be a disaster. If you think that only the rich received care before Obamacare (which would be complete bullshit), you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Two of the big reasons for the decline in public education are a) Federal government involvement, and b) Unionized teachers who are rewarded for tenure instead of performance and results. You and I are never going to agree on much. I’m a believer in rugged individualism, American exceptionalism, and a lover of free market capitalism. We were all created equal, but we damn sure aren’t all going to finish that way. Go protest something.
And note, I am talking about a progressive protest, not some racist/tea party idiocy
ashevillemomma – If you want to join/help organize a protest, I’m all for it. It’s a bit difficult with such short notice of his schedule (and what will be said at SotU), but I am assuming I will go out to protest drones/climate inaction if at all possible. Feel free to email me @ themgt@gmail.com to talk ideas/carpooling/sign-making etc
Obama is the worst president in history. he cares only about the transformation of our once great country into a socialist democracy. We can only hope that those who voted for him feel the brunt of the pain his policies will cause.
When was this country ever really great? It’s got the same history of its people’s unrelenting nastiness toward one another that every other country has. That’s rather why we’re “transforming” into a “socialist” democracy. It’s what any other civilized nation would do when faced with its citizens dying because they can’t afford bloated medical bills. Every law that exists now is in response to some injustice of the past. We have food safety regulations because people were dying from filth and poisons in their food. We have environmental regulations because without them, corporations cheerfully polluted rivers until they caught fire. We have the Affordable Care Act because people were dying from lack of care and going bankrupt from the costs of healthcare. If you want a good, old-fashioned democratic free-for-all, might I suggest Somalia, because anarchy is about as democratic as it gets. As for me, I prefer civilization, and while America is hardly the most civilized nation on earth, it’s tolerable.
This country was great from the beginning. As much as the left hates it, the Constitution is a brilliant document. I think we should ship all you libs to Russia.
It’s always such a shame to see someone so uneducated in history…
It’s really a shame to encounter another Obama zombie.
We should be proud that the POTUS (the best one of the 21st century) & his lovely wife like to vaykay here.
Politics aside, we should take pride in our awesomeness to attract such a cool president as Barak Obama.
Maybe this is why the good ole’ boys in Raleigh keep tryin’ to dick us over – punishing us for the love we get from the President.
I hope all of Asheville’s peaceloving, enlightened progressives will take the opportunity to sound off about drones, warrantless eavesdropping, Gitmo, secrecy, and the unlimited power of the executive branch to kill whoever they want to, anywhere, anytime. I bet they’ll also express their displeasure at no real action having been taken on a national level on jobs, and they’ll let Obama know that they are aware that most of the jobs that have been created in this “recovery” have been low-paying part-time ones with no benefits.
I just know that the Asheville progressive community will be true to their stated (in the past)strongly-held beliefs and won’t gush all starry-eyed when O pulls into town! Don’t you just know that their integrity will be a marvel to behold?
I welcome our great President to our wonderful City. He brings national recognition to us and it is so beneficial for Asheville. I can’t for them to finally buy a vacation home here! AWESOME!
And to all you that obviously hate him and hate when he visits our City why don’t you move somewhere he doesn’t love to visit. We should be honored. Shame on all of you. Use your powers of negativity and channel them into something good… like volunteering at the Battered Woman’s Shelter, feeding the homeless, helping an old lady across the street. Obama is black and all your bashing will not change his skin color. Get over it.
I Love you Mr. Obama!
I hope it’s that damned-handsome Joe Biden coming for a change. Not that I mind POTUS/FLOTUS, but Joe is a BFD! Namsayin?
I’m personally quite excited about this visit. I would really love tickets to any event in which he will be speaking. Any info on that, Ashvegas?
Haven’t seen any secret service in their Maryland tagged surburbans driving around at high speeds so prob just a rumor.
If it’s Obama who is coming, he needs to quit vacationing, keep his ass in Washington, and try actually running the country.
Please, Dubya took more vacation days than ANY president in history …
one of them the same day that intelligence reports indicated an impending terrorist attack in New York … remember that?
Murphy, he vacationed at his own ranch at a comparatively small cost to taxpayers. Barry has spent more tax dollars on vacations (and everything else) than Dubya by a longshot. When will you stop blaming Bush?
I am not blaming him for anything … I gave him credit for 9/11.
We’ll stop blaming him just as soon as the mess he left is cleaned up. When you stop absolving him of everything?
They will never stop blaming Bush. It’s all they have to hold on to. Their president is inept. Thank God Reagan didn’t sit around blaming Carter. Woe is me….
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!! Reagan constantly blamed Carter and Republicans never stopped — even notice how your guy Mittens was always slamming Carter?
Bush II was the most incompetent idiot savant every to hold the presidency and we will be cleaning up his mess for at least a generation. You bet we will blame him.
And oh yeah, if you are an American citizen Barack Obama is YOUR president too. He won. Get over it.
will he have to pay 10 bucks to park at GPI?
I’d like to see the President. It would be great if they would tour some breweries. Hopefully they won’t waste their money at Grove Park Inn and stay somewhere else. Great exposure and publicity for Asheville, I say bring it on!!!
Nice place to practice your State of the Union Address and unlock a house or two!
Oh Goody! Hopefully Barry and his entourage will come to town, screw up traffic, and have some photo ops eating junkfood while burning through tax dollars. That’s what he does best, right?
No, actually what he’s best at is annoying the local rednecks who like to complain about anything a non git ‘r dun President is up to. His plan is obviously working perfectly!