Obama Takes SOTU Message on the Road

After delivering his final State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Obama is hitting the road today, flying to Nebraska and Louisiana.

The White House says the president will engage with Americans about the progress his administration has made and will discuss how to address the challenges and opportunities in the years ahead.

The president will hold a living room discussion with a family at a private residence in the Omaha, Nebraska area and then deliver remarks at University of Nebraska-Omaha. Later in the afternoon, the president will fly to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Obama has never traveled to either community during his presidency, according to the White House.

"While he's visiting those two fine communities, the president will highlight the progress that's been made in each state since he took office, and talk about how he can continue to take action in the next year to move the country forward," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters last week. "I know the president is looking forward to those visits. As a part of both of those visits, the president will spend some time in smaller settings, visiting with members of the community, in addition to addressing larger crowds in both of those communities."

The White House cites improvements to the unemployment rate in Nebraska, which is 2.9 percent, down from 4.8 percent at the worst of the recession. The White House says more than 70,000 jobs, including more than 40,000 in the Omaha area, have been created in the Cornhusker state since 2010.

This will be the president's second visit to Nebraska, a traditionally conservative state, since he took office in 2009. Earnest said he was unsure if the president would meet with billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has supported the president's views on income inequality but who opposed the administration's stance on the Keystone XL pipeline.

This evening, Obama will fly on Air Force One to Baton Rouge to continue talking about the economy, health care and education.