The $1 million Backyard Visit

When the President came to Ohio for a 10 minute speech commemorating the 10,000th stimulus project, it cost taxpayers between $500,000 and $1,000,000 to transport Obama and his entourage of secret service, limos and all the other bells and whistles that come with a presidential visit.

Well, on Wednesday the President arrives in Ohio again. This time to campaign and raise money for Ohio Ted Strickland.

But just because it's a campaign-based visit don't think you're going to get away with not paying the President's transportation tab.

Why? Because he's going to take some time out of his day to go hang out in someone's backyard:

President Barack Obama will meet with an unidentified family in Clintonville Wednesday morning while in Columbus.

The president will have a backyard discussion about the economy with the host families and others, a White House official said this morning.

Thanks to this backyard visit, you the taxpayer are paying an ungodly sum to help the President raise money for Ted Strickland. Why? Because it counts as an official presidential visit rather than a campaign visit that would require campaign dollars to fund.

Now to be fair, other presidents have utilized official events in order to help pay for campaign-based events. But in this economy and after so many trips already by Obama to Ohio, is this event really necessary?

Is Ted Strickland so desperate that he wants taxpayers to spend $1 million, or possibly more since it's an overnight visit, to send an unpopular President to Columbus to campaign for him?

Yes. And 3BP will have more on that desperation tomorrow.