President Obama coming to Forsyth Tech in Winston-Salem

A community college in Winston-Salem will celebrate its 50th anniversary with President Barack Obama.

Obama will be speaking at Forsyth Technical Community College today, focusing on unemployment and workforce opportunities.

He will also visit classrooms and laboratories and meet with students. This is Obama’s fourth visit to the state since taking office.

“We invited him about six months ago in association with our 50th anniversary,” said Gary Green, president of Forsyth Tech. “Senator Hagan endorsed our request.”

Obama is expected to focus on employment in his speech, addressing the state’s unemployment rate of 9.6 percent.

His visit is considered by many to reflect the state’s increasing political importance.

The 2008 presidential election marked the first time North Carolina voted Democratic at the presidential level in some time, said Tom Carsey, a UNC political science professor.

“Long-term demographic trends would suggest North Carolina will be a competitive state,” he said. “I think as a general rule, presidents tend to visit states that might be important electorally for them.”

The frequent visits to North Carolina could end up helping Obama in the long run, he said.

“Most of the evidence shows that presidential visits are beneficial,” Carsey said. “They tend to generate a lot of media attention.”

The attention could help Obama’s approval ratings, which have plummeted in the last few months largely because of the high unemployment rates.

If the unemployment rate nationwide does not decrease by the 2012 election, Obama might lose his chance of being reelected, said James Stimson, a political science professor at UNC.

Obama also chose to go to Forsyth partly because of how the college focuses on preparing students for careers, Green said.

He said Obama supports students getting expertise in the biotechnology field and will be visiting the laboratories that focus on biotechnology education, Green said.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.