President Barack Obama鈥檚 got a thing for Austin.
The President is kicking off his 鈥溾�� in the Capitol City today. The White House says Austin was picked as the place to start the tour, because it leads the country in manufacturing and tech job growth. (And we鈥檙e sure Austin鈥檚 reputation as a Democratic city in a solidly Republican state doesn鈥檛 hurt either.)
Obama鈥檚 making official stops at Manor New Tech High School and Applied Materials in Austin. We also learned this morning that he鈥檒l be stopping by tech startup support company Capital Factory 鈥� that explains the road closures affecting downtown you can read about here.
But whether its Austin economic growth and success, its liberal bonafides or something else, Obama has a thing for Austin. Today will be his eighth trip to the Capitol City. Here鈥檚 a look at his previous trips:
Oct. 28, 2006: 鈥淭he Audacity of Hope鈥� and fresh off a wave of popularity following his Democratic National Convention speech, then Sen. Obama spoke at the Texas Book Festival, which featured an introduction from Evan Smith.
Feb. 23 2007: Sen. Obama spoke at , addressing a crowd of thousands with an early campaign stump speech.
Feb. 21, 2008: Candidate Obama with future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, held at the University of Texas. The following day, Obama held .
Nov. 10, 2009: President Obama after the October 2009 mass shooting at the military installation and attended a memorial service for the victims.
Aug. 9, 2010: , President Obama spoke at a Democratic fundraiser at the Four Seasons, and later spoke at the UT Gregory Gym to .
May 10, 2011: at the ACL Live Moody Theatre downtown, with Robert Earl Keen opening the festivities.
July 17, 2012: this summer featured protests from Occupy Austin, plus plenty of I-35 traffic and pre-election rhetoric at the Austin Music Hall.
