Speeches on the economy and the middle class in Illinois and Warrensburg, Mo. Wednesday were parts of a plan by President Obama.
President Obama said in Warrensburg he will take his message to a series of American towns in coming weeks.
In total, it was not a new theme.
At University of Central Missouri the President talked of making a college education more affordable.
He also spoke of building more ladders for people to climb to the middle class, if willing to work for it. He said he would make early childhood education a priority.
Making college more affordable enabled the President to localize his topic.
Mr. Obama referenced UCM, partnering with Lees Summit School District, Metropolitan Community College and with local energy, healthcare and engineering firms. He described those as “industries that are going to drive job growth in the future. And everybody is now working together to equip students with better skills, allow them to graduate faster with less debt and with the certainty of being able to get a job at the other end.”
The President said if Republicans have a better idea to bring down college costs, he’s ready to listen.
The President cautioned, Republicans should not, as he put it, "manufacture another crisis because it might be good politics," just as the economy is getting traction.
Fewer than two dozen protestors were kept a block or more away from the hall where the President spoke. Many of those with signs were college Young Republicans.