The President's Town Hall

What’s the up side of being the poster child for a lousy economy and No. 1 in the nation for foreclosures?

Getting the president’s personal attention—not to mention the opportunity to see our new leader in action, up close and personal. President Obama’s Town Hall meeting in Fort Myers proved his reputation for charging up an audience. It also provided a chance to see how he responds not just to cheering crowds, but to individual need.

Ticketholders lined up hours before the scheduled noon appearance and after passing through heavy security, they milled around inside the center, where the mood was upbeat and expectant.

In this dominantly conservative Republican corner of Florida, numerous Republican politicians and other local luminaries filled the seats. Among them was Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott, who gained national attention when he introduced Sarah Palin during a campaign speech by referring to Barack Hussein Obama—a move many saw as manipulative. But if Obama had detractors in the crowd on Tuesday, they weren’t speaking up.

On the contrary, even Republicans showed up in support, including Stuart Kaye, president of Kaye Homes, former president of Florida Homebuilders. “Generally, I’m conservative at heart, but I’m hopeful and optimistic about what the president will do for us,” he said. He hoped the president would require banks to loosen up lending and work more with builders as well as homeowners.

“It’s dangerous to spend the kind of dollars that [are] being tossed around, but I’m not sure we have a lot of choice at this point,” he said. “The key is to ensure that those dollars are invested in the right place—invested, not spent.”

Also in the crowd were people who worked on Obama’s campaign, the devoted and dogged who had stood in line overnight for the scarce tickets, and plenty of businesspeople who, like Kaye, had concerns they hoped to hear addressed—green job creation, green energy opportunities, education investment.