Why did Obama choose Green Bay?

GREEN BAY - There are several reasons people say the President is coming to Green Bay. Some say it's a mid-size community that offers the President a glimpse of middle America. While others say it's a swing area in a swing state.

When President Barack Obama comes to Southwest High School in Green Bay on Thursday, he will be holding his 10th town hall meeting as president.

Most, but not all, have been in so-called "swing states", like Florida, Indiana and New Mexico. He held one in Missouri, a state he lost by fewer than 4,000 votes. But Obama has also held town halls in democratic strongholds, including two in California and one in Washington D.C.

"This is a key area of the state for any political figure," said Jason Stephany, executive director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. He said the decision to come to Green Bay is more than political.

"(Obama) knows this is an area of the state where a lot of working families are dealing with the same issues he's been focused on both in the campaign and in his presidency," Stephany said.

Wisconsin is often referred to as a swing state but has gone to the Democrats every presidential election since 1988. Obama did win Brown County in 2008. But that was only the second time in 40 years a democratic presidential candidate won Brown County. The other, was Bill Clinton in 1996.

Republican strategist Mark Graul helped organized several visits to Wisconsin by former President George W. Bush. He says Obama's upcoming trip makes a lot of sense.

"When we used to look at places for Bush to go Green Bay was always an attractive place to go because usually it's a pretty easy place to get around," Graul said. "You can usually find a good place to go and it is the second biggest media market in the state. You touch a lot of people in the state. It impacts a lot of people."

Tim Dale, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay said Green Bay is the type of place that can give Obama a taste of the rest of the country.

"This place politically resonates with the kind of voters that Obama needs to keep talking to through hid first term in office," Dale said.

President Obama has also held a few unconventional town hall meetings. In March, he held an online town hall meeting. In April, he held a town hall meeting in France.