Obama electrifies South Florida in second visit to Miami

October 27, 1:51 PMBroward County Law and Politics ExaminerAsad Ba-Yunus

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Obama addresses supporters in Miami Beach (AP/Gerard Herbert)

(10/26/07) MIAMI, FL – President Barak Obama made his second visit to South Florida Monday, attending two Democratic Party fundraisers, including one at the glamorous Fontainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach. 

Greeted on the tarmac as he stepped down from Air Force One was Congressman Kendrick Meek, currently running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Republican Sen. Mel Martinez. Noticeably absent from the festivities was Meek’s main Republican challenger, Florida Governor Charlie Crist.

Meek also participated in introducing Obama at the fundraisers, where other prominent South Florida politicians and celebrities also greeted the President.

Among the notable personalities who greeted Obama in Miami were House Speaker Nanci Pelosi (D-Ca), Florida Senator Bill Nelson (D), Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Shultz (D-Fl), Florida CFO and candidate for Florida Governor, Alex Sink (D), state Sen. Dan Gelber (running for Fla. Attorney General), Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade and Miami Dolphins star Jason Taylor.

President Obama is greeted by Rep. Kendrick Meek (AP/Gerard Herbert)

With poll numbers reflecting a dip in the President’s approval rating, Obama is trying to energize the strong Democratic base in South Florida, and hoping that it will move upward toward Central Florida races where Democrats recently ousted veteran Republicans. 

The President’s lower poll numbers also seemed to be visible slightly in the crowd of protestors gathered outside the venues. The crowd bore signs on issues as wide ranging as the H1N1 flu vaccine to health care and even the claim that Obama was not born in the United States. Some protestors advocated for Haitian asylum, gun rights, and against abortion.

Protestors greeting Obama with their thoughts (AP/Gerard Herbert)

 On Tuesday, the President went to Arcadia, a town in Central Florida that is home to a solar energy facility, where he announced that the government will spend $3.4 billion from the economic stimulus package on the country's electrical power transmission grid, to encourage new technologies and to build a "smarter, stronger and more secure electric grid." The funds will be matched by companies in the industry and will be used for hundreds of projects to improve and upgrade the existing national power grid.

The plans include installing "smart" electric meters, already in trial use in Florida, digital transformers, grid sensors, and automating utility substations.