Obama and his GARAGE SALE SPEECH...

Can't draw a crowd, Mr President? Obama makes speech in couple's GARAGE... and even they say they might not vote for him

By Nina Golgowski
PUBLISHED: 01:06 EST, 12 May 2012 | UPDATED: 05:09 EST, 12 May 2012


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2143321/Obama-makes-speech-couples-GARAGE--hosts-vote-him.html#ixzz1ufdzrYcX


As leader of the free world President Obama will be used to making speeches to millions of people around the globe.
So he might have felt the occasion was a little beneath him yesterday when he stopped off in Reno, Nevada, to deliver an address outside a couple's garage.
In what could be a disastrous photo opportunity for the President's campaign, Mr Obama spoke to a handful of people in the crucial swing state.

The president's 15 minute address outside the home of Paul and Val Keller on Friday afternoon, drew a small audience of neighbours and supporters - though even his hosts said they were not sure if they would vote for him in the coming election.

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Focus: Nevada is expected to be a swing state this year with the polls showing that the economy is the issue voters care most about in the campaign

Uncertainty: Mr Keller has said he voted for the president in 2008 and plans to again while his wife admits still being uncertain, even after their meeting

Focusing his speech on home mortgages, Mr Obama said his opponents 'want to let the housing market hit bottom and just hope for the best,' a swipe at presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, who said the foreclosure process should be allowed to run its course.
He urged Congress to pass legislation so homeowners without government-backed loans also can take advantage of the savings when refinancing. The speech came with light audience cheers.
The White House said the chosen couple to meet with and host the president, had benefited from his refinancing initiative, paying $240 less per month in mortgage payments.

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Despite this benefit, and a one-on-one meeting with the president in the couple's kitchen, the couple reported themselves still divided on who they expect to vote for come November.
'I like him, but I've always liked him,' Mr Keller, a 67-year-old retired electrical contractor told a reporter with the Wall Street Journal.

On board: About 1.1 million borrowers have refinanced through the Obama administration's Home Affordable Refinance Program, enacted in 2009

He said he voted for the president in 2008 and plans to once again this year. His wife remains uncertain.
'I don't know yet,' she answered when asked how she'll vote. 'I want to wait and see what happens in the economy,' she told MyNews4.
Obama is pushing Congress to smooth the way for more people to take advantage of low interest rates with mortgage refinancing assistance, part of a 'to-do list' for lawmakers he unveiled earlier this week.
'We've got to have Congress move. There's absolutely no reason why they can't make this happen right now,' he told the crowd outside the Kellers' driveway which attracted a lean audience roped off across the street.

Chosen: The president sat down with the couple in their kitchen for a two hour meeting after they were chosen because of their savings from his refinancing program

About 1.1million borrowers have refinanced through the Obama administration's Home Affordable Refinance Program, which was enacted in 2009 to help borrowers with little or no equity in their homes. But convincing Congress to agree to added mortgage relief has been a tough sell for the White House.
'So, I need all of you, and everybody who's watching, to push Congress on their to-do list. Nag 'em until they actually get it done. We need to keep moving this country forward,' he said.
Republicans remain leery of broad-based housing relief programs that could be costly to the government.
Nevada is a critical place to make that sale.

Private meeting: President Barack Obama speaks to reporters and neighbors of Val and Paul Keller in Reno Friday afternoon after he met with the couple to privately discuss the housing crisis

The state's housing market was crushed when the U.S. real estate bubble burst and prices remain far from the peaks reached in 2006, although local realtors report recent trends have been encouraging, with sale prices and volumes up from last year.
Obama won Nevada in 2008, besting Republican opponent John McCain, but the state is now among a handful of political battlegrounds that could swing to the Democrats or Republicans this year.
A recent survey from Rasmussen give Obama an 8-point lead in Nevada over Romney, who has hit Obama hard for his handling of the economy.
That issue is likely to resonate in Nevada, where unemployment of 12 percent in March was well above the national average.

Meet and greet: After his speech, the president met with the couple's neighbours who collectively in the state give Obama an 8-point lead in Nevada over Romney

Tour: Obama has made repeated trips over the past several months to Nevada and Colorado, another Western swing state, but it was his first to Reno in about a year

After his two hour stay Friday, that bid him farewell with an audience's chant of 'four more years,' Obama headed back to Washington.
It was his first visit to Reno in about a year. He carried the swing state of Nevada in 2008 and shows continual lead in the state's polls.
Obama has made repeated trips over the past several months to Nevada and Colorado, another Western swing state that could hold the key to his re-election if states in the eastern half of the country, such as Ohio and Florida, go Republican in November.
Polls show that the economy is the issue voters care most about in the campaign for the November 6 election.

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