President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden spoke at the University of Tampa before approximately 2, 600 people this afternoon, including a healthy chunk of UT students.
Looking for some love after a brutal couple of weeks of criticism, starting with the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack, and then the gut punch for Democrats that was the loss of Ted Kennedy's seat in the Senate last week, Obama came bearing gifts today. That gift was the $1.25 billion grant that will begin construction on a high speed-rail line that will run from Tampa to Orlando, and that the President joked that he looks forward to riding on it once it's completed.
Making his first public appearance since his much hyped State of the Union address last night in Washington, Obama touched on many of the same themes in his 30 minute speech that he spoke of last night, including his calls to try to address the country's largest problem (and an issue that he's been accused of not focusing enough on), the economy.