Pres. Obama to speak at GE's Gas Engine Plant in Waukesha

WAUKESHA (WITI) -- From Washington, D.C. to Wisconsin -- President Barack Obama is taking his "State of the Union" ideas for a road test. On Wednesday, January 29th -- the day after the SOTU, President Obama was in Maryland and Pennsylvania -- and on Thursday, he heads to Wisconsin.

On Tuesday night, President Obama addressed the nation -- calling 2014 "a year of action."

On Thursday, he will speak to folks in Waukesha -- at GE's Gas Engine Plant in Waukesha.

"We've got a president who wants to rally public opinion for certain areas of his platform," UW-Milwaukee Professor Mordecai Lee said.

With his last election behind him, and no apparent campaigning to do, why did President Obama choose Wisconsin?

"We're sort of the clean-cut state, nice people, sort of the Packers people, the cheese people. We're middle America, so a politician wants to appear middle America so almost all Americans watching can say, 'oh, I can understand that.  That's a place I could be.' That's why he comes to Wisconsin," Lee said.

"Wisconsin is extremely important," Congresswoman Gwen Moore said.

Moore says the Wisconsin trip shows the region's importance to the national economy.

"I think it's a great place for the President to make a visit and make a positive statement about the importance of having manufacturers work to increase opportunity for people," Moore said.

Congressman Paul Ryan of Janesville says there won't be much new in President Obama's Wisconsin speech.

"If he just keeps pushing the same old stuff, we're going to be where we are right now, which is a bad economy," Ryan said.

"The President is going to go to every place possible to soften his image.  His approval rating in Wisconsin on Obamacare or his presidency is over 50 percent disapproval," Izzy Santa, with the Republican National Committee (RNC) said.

Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin says the President's trip to Waukesha will highlight the state's economic recovery.

President Obama lands at General Mitchell International Airport Thursday morning, and is scheduled to speak around 11:20 in Waukesha.