President Barack Obama walks Sunday along the Colonnade to the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. Obama will make his first stop in Alaska on Thursday.
Story last updated at 11/10/2009 - 10:47 am
ANCHORAGE - Democratic party leaders say many residents are thrilled over President Barack Obama's first visit to the Republican-leaning state, though he won't make a public appearance here.
The Alaska Democratic Party received at least 175 e-mails and dozens of calls with the announcement of Obama's brief refueling stop Thursday in Anchorage at Elmendorf Air Force Base.
The Democratic president will speak to troops before Air Force One heads to Tokyo for his first Asia trip.
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, will be among those attending. The two other members of Alaska's congressional delegation - Republicans U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young - do not plan to take part.
Kevin Harun, spokesman for the Alaska Democratic Party, said Monday that because Obama's stop is a private visit, there are no planned events coinciding with the stopover.
But he said the scores of calls and e-mails his office received included people wanting to know how they could get a glimpse of Obama. One e-mailer wanted to know if the president could appear at his 3-year-old daughter's birthday party. Others just wanted to express their excitement over Obama's visit, even though they won't see him in person.
"We're hopeful that we can get the president up this summer to meet with Alaskans," Harun said. "We're happy that he'll see our servicemen and women, especially with what's going on in the world, and after the tragedy in Fort Hood."
The deadly shooting at the Texas Army post also is weighing on any response from Alaska Republicans over the president's visit. No events are planned for Thursday, said Randy Ruedrich, chairman of the Republican Party of Alaska.
"We look at the visit in view of Fort Hood, with the murders of Americans on an American installation, and we thought it would be inappropriate to stage a political event at this time," he said.
In last year's general election, Obama lost the traditionally red state to Republican John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin, then Alaska's governor. Obama garnered nearly 38 percent, while McCain received over 59 percent of the more than 326,000 votes cast.
As of early October, more than 126,000 Alaska voters were registered as Republicans, followed by more than 77,000 as nonpartisan. Among the state's total of 485,098 voters, nearly 75,400 are registered as Democrats.
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