Obama Addresses Republicans in Baltimore Jan. 29

Update: Video of the republican Q&A with Obama here.

Update Jan. 29: Live audio here. Live stream here.

Update Jan. 28: Obama will a local business in Baltimore at 11 am and at 11:25, he'll speak on the jobs tax credit. At 12:10, he'll deliver remarks to House republicans. Then, he'll meet with them.

Obama mentioned this in his State of the Union speech tonight.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to make his first presidential appearance in Baltimore next Friday, when he addresses House Republican Conference members during a retreat.

Mary Vought, spokeswoman for the House Republican Conference, says Republican leaders chose Baltimore for the retreat "because it is a working class city that has a 10.8 percent unemployment rate." HA

The House republican retreat will be held at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel. The nonprofit Congressional Institute is paying for the retreat. Update Jan. 28 from the Baltimore Sun, following the small Hometown Annapolis paper:

House Republicans will gather at an Inner Harbor hotel this evening for an annual retreat that will feature an appearance Friday by President Barack Obama.

The president's midday speech, to be followed by a private question-and-answer session with the Republican lawmakers, is an election-year attempt at bipartisan outreach to a group that has been extremely hostile to his agenda.

Obama met with House Republicans at the Capitol last January, shortly after taking office, but failed to gain any of their votes for his $787 billion stimulus plan a few days later.

The Republican retreat, which runs through Saturday, is designed to help develop the party's strategic plan for the midterm elections. Independent campaign analysts are forecasting significant Republican gains this November, with some predicting at least an outside chance for Republicans to knock Democrats from the majority.
More at BS

Other speakers at the event:

Besides Obama, scheduled speakers at the Baltimore retreat include former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, newly elected Republican Gov. Robert McDonnell of Virginia and former House Republican Leader Dick Armey, who chairs a conservative group that has aggressively opposed Obama's agenda. Retired football coach Lou Holtz, a longtime Republican activist who gave a pep talk at the 2007 retreat on Maryland's Eastern Shore, is the Friday night dinner speaker.