Protest expected for Obama's Texas visit

Houston Chronicle:

President Barack Obama will make his first trip to Texas A&M University this afternoon, joining former President George H.W. Bush for an event intended to honor people like Ramon Fernandez.

Fernandez, who teaches accounting at the University of St. Thomas, was named a Point of Light in 2007 for organizing students to offer free income tax preparation to low-income Houston residents.

But today's forum on community service won't be entirely the nonpartisan event that Bush and Obama had envisioned.

“President Obama is protested everywhere he goes, so I think it would be odd if he came to one of the most conservative campuses and there wasn't a protest,” said Justin Pulliam, a sophomore at A&M and a member of Young Conservatives of Texas, one of several groups planning protests in conjunction with Obama's visit.

Inside the campus's Rudder Auditorium, however, Obama and Bush will be focused on the work done by countless volunteers. More than 4,000 people have been recognized by the Point of Light award since Bush created it in 1989.

...

Only about 20 percent of Texans think Obama is doing a good job so it should not be too surprising that there will be some there to protest him. When the trip was schedules Democrats appeared to think that the state of Texas might be in play for them, but that does not look probably at all right now.

Obama's polices are seen as attacks on the Texas economy, particularly the anti energy cap and trade bill he supports. His health care bill looks like it will drive up the cost for most people already covered to cover the cost of others.

The NY Times also looks at the student reaction to the visit. I think it is a pretty fair report. A&M is not as conservative as it used to be which is too bad. It is still not as liberal as UT, thankfully. I should note that I have two degrees from UT and there is much I like about it, but the pervasiveness of liberalism is not among them.