President Obama will be in Orlando on Thursday to talk about tourism. And like Democratic senators who skipped Obama appearances in other states, Bill Nelson will be nowhere in sight.
Obama is scheduled to be at Walt Disney World, where a White House aide said the president will "unveil a strategy that will significantly help boost tourism and travel."
Nelson's office told reporters that a scheduling conflict will prevent the Democratic senator from appearing with the president -- a statement that was quickly mocked by two of Nelson's Republican foes.
Craig Miller, running for the GOP Senate nomination, offered to meet with Obama on Thursday.
"Since I have been talking to thousands of Floridians for the past seven months and we see very little of Bill Nelson meeting with constituents, I would be delighted to let him know what the folks on Main Street are saying and feeling," Miller told Sunshine State News.
"As a lifetime member of the hospitality industry and past tourism commissioner, maybe I can help him understand why our nation's bureaucracy and overbearing regulations kill incentives for job creation," Miller said.
GOP candidate Adam Hasner also chided Nelson, saying, "Now that we are in an election year, Bill Nelson is running from his support of the stimulus, Obamacare and cap-and-trade, and running from President Obama himself."
Nelson, who consistently votes with the White House, isn't the first Democrat to dodge Obama in a swing state where the president's popularity is sagging.
Earlier this month, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, bailed on Obama when the president went to Cleveland.
In Pennsylvania last November, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., was MIA during an Obama visit there.
Like Nelson, both Brown and Casey are up for re-election this year.
Nelson spokesman Dan McLaughlin told reporters that the two-term senator was "not bailing."
"Had Sarasota-Manatee events set long ago. Got Obama invite this a.m.," McLaughlin explained in a staccato email Monday. McLaughlin did not respond to Sunshine State News' request for additional comment.
Republicans weren't letting Nelson off so easily.
Calling Obama "the single worst president in history," Hasner said Nelson "has voted for every single one of President Obama's hallmark policies, which have been a disaster for Florida and the nation.
"Senator Nelson may not have a clue as to what it will take to grow jobs, but he is smart enough to have figured out what it will take to save his own," the former Florida House majority leader said of Nelson's itinerary.
Jahan Wilcox, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, also hammered the Melbourne Democrat.
In Washington, Senator Bill Nelson has voted with President Barack Obama over 97 percent of the time and his absence will not hide the fact that he voted for Obamas $2.5 trillion health-care bill, which cut $550 billion from seniors who depend on Medicare," Wilcox said.
"With over 925,000 unemployed Floridians its clear the Sunshine State can no longer afford Barack Obama and Bill Nelsons job-killing, tax-and-spend agenda.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, a Democrat, also will be out of town during Obama's visit Thursday. He reportedly is scheduled to be in Washington that day for a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Though the president's agenda has not been officially released by the White House, the Orlando Sentinel speculated that one topic could be visa reform.
The tourism industry has urged Washington to streamline the issuance of tourist visas from such populous countries as Brazil, India and China. Recent legislation gave the secretary of state the authority to develop a pilot program to use videoconferencing to conduct remote visa interviews for leisure and business visitors, the Sentinel said.
Obama's visit to the Disney complex comes with some recent and not-so-recent political history.
The Florida Democratic Party convention at Disneys Contemporary Resort last October featured a fiery speech by Vice President Joe Biden, who pointed to the 2012 elections, saying, "We are looking for this fight."
At that same Orlando venue in 1973, then-President Richard Nixon infamously uttered his "I am not a crook" declaration. He would resign less than a year later.
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
