You could call it the Trailways tour, or the non-campaign tour, or the I hope I run into Sarah Palin at a truck stop tour. But I’m going to call President Obama’s bizarre three-day road trip around the upper Midwest his Sesame Street tour.
Sesame Street, as in “brought to you by the number 270 and the letters G, O and P.”
With America’s rural population at a record low (only 16 percent of us live outside urban areas), and with sky-high commodity prices making the farm sector one of very few vigorous parts of the U.S. economy, Obama’s decision to spend three precious days of his term talking about jobs in places like Cannon Falls, Minn., and Decorah, Iowa, doesn’t seem to make any sense. Tooling down the heartland’s two-lane byways in a tricked-out $1.1 million Secret Service brontosaurus seems politically tone-deaf, too. It cannot have made the president’s green supporters very happy. On the other hand, the presidential behemoth must have put a few smiles on the faces of corn farmers, who are happy to sell their crops to ethanol and biodiesel makers.
There is a method to the apparent White House madness, however, and I am pretty confident it has a lot to do with the Electoral College.
Presidential races are not determined on the basis of who gets the most votes. If they were, we would all remember the Gore administration. Instead, it takes 270 Electoral College votes to win the White House. At this early stage in the campaign, the president’s prospects look pretty dim.
Florida, oddly enough, is the key to understanding this week’s bus trip.
Let’s create our own map of the possible Electoral College results next year. The website 270towin.com makes this very easy. For starters, let’s give Obama all six New England states, plus the Democratic-leaning Northeastern states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Delaware, as well as the District of Columbia. Pennsylvania is not a sure thing, but we will be charitable toward the president. Let’s also give him all the Pacific states except rock-ribbed Republican Alaska. He is entitled to his home state of Illinois, and we can throw in Michigan, if only because Obama can (and certainly will) claim credit for rescuing General Motors and Chrysler. Finally, we will give him Minnesota. It is a pretty evenly divided state, and home to Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann, but Minnesota has gone to Democrats in every presidential election since the Nixon landslide in 1972.
That’s 236 electoral votes. If Obama could count Florida in his column, he would be up to 265. He would need to pick up only one shaky swing state to get over the hump, even a small one like Nevada, with six electoral votes, or New Mexico, with five. That is a manageable goal.
The problem is that Obama’s chance of winning Florida is slim, and getting slimmer. He carried the state in 2008 with a heavy turnout among minorities and solid support among independent white voters. This time his white support is far weaker, and his hard-core Democratic base is far less motivated than his Republican opposition. Obama has to brace for lighter turnout in the Democratic-leaning South Florida metroplex, and stiff resistance in the critical corridor along Interstate 4, running from Tampa to Orlando to Daytona Beach.
If he loses Florida, as he probably will, Obama’s prospects are bleak. States like Virginia and North Carolina, which he pulled into the Democratic column last time, are hopelessly out of reach. His chances don’t look good in Ohio either, though this may depend on whom the Republicans nominate and how effectively that person campaigns. He cannot count on Ohio. Missouri, another important swing state, is probably also beyond Obama’s grasp. Health care reform pushed that state sharply to the right.
Without Florida or Ohio in his column, Obama’s only hope is to run the table by winning every other state in which he conceivably has a chance. That would be Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico. He also cannot afford to lose any of his base states, notably Minnesota and Illinois.
Now the motivation for the bus trip becomes clear. Motoring his way through Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois gave Obama a chance to show some love for the region. He also guaranteed himself plenty of exposure in neighboring Wisconsin, which was busy on Tuesday with the last of its recall elections stemming from this year’s legislative fight over public worker unions.
Wisconsin is undoubtedly causing the president and his political handlers plenty of aggravation. Without Florida or Ohio, they cannot win without Wisconsin. Yet Democrats and their labor allies spent tens of millions of dollars in nine recall elections affecting state senators with unsatisfying results. They picked up only two of the six Republican seats they challenged, leaving the Legislature in GOP hands. They also lost a stiff challenge to a sitting, Republican-leaning state Supreme Court justice. Wisconsin remains a close call, but it clearly leans Republican right now.
Why didn’t Obama ride his bus there? Probably timing. A visit on Monday or Tuesday would have looked like blatant interference in the recall elections and might have sent Republicans streaming to the polls. A visit on Wednesday would have risked embarrassment if one or both of the Democratic senators who were challenged this week had been knocked off. The safest course was to stay out but stay close, and that is what the president did.
Sesame Street has always been one of the most instructive shows on television, and the Sesame Street Bus Tour was equally informative. By staying away from Florida, Obama taught us a lot about the reception he thinks he will get down there. By confining himself to the upper Midwest, he underscored how important the region has become to his presidency. Presidents usually take faster transportation options, and nobody relishes the thought of three days on a bus. Not even one tricked-out by the Secret Service.

The majority of those who desire a travel agency job are the ones thinking about traveling. A travel agent position will certainly open up opportunities for you to go to the Caribbean, Venice, Egypt, Tuscany, Malaysia, Morocco and any place else in the globe, however, not always. But in many instances, having a travel agent position allows you for you to visit the well-known narrow walkways of Baghdad, bargain with carpet retailers of Turkey and gesture with the man-eating tigers of Nigeria. That is a fantastic possibility for many, especially those who do not want a desk job in an 8-5 office.
Keeping a travel agency position requires that you be passionately in love with traveling and also have enough knowledge to influence plenty of people as possible to go with you to vacation packages in unfamiliar destinations. It is primarily the infectious travel love that makes your agency’s consumers be interested in just what the planet boasts also in doing this supply you with the revenue. A career in travel agencies indicates you can actually motivate others to enjoy everything you have loved during you expeditious journeys. Traveling for you becomes an enterprise when it is exciting for other people.
Fundamentally, a travel agency career involves assisting others schedule, organize and prepare for their vacations. Your task is to arrange and book their tickets and accommodation packages for as many vacation goers as you can influence. The education qualification needed for you to join a tour operator career is not as high as with many other career paths. You need at least a high school diploma and then professional training as a travel agent and the required certification. Main travel firms demand that their travel agents have a suitable degree. You may therefore seek such a degree or select the vocational schools offering specific in travel.
Besides the college background and professional education, your odds of acquiring a travel agent position may also depend on considerable business working experience. It helps if you’re able to prove to be a devoted traveler or to have enough knowledge about holiday destinations. Such expertise and knowledge adds volumes to your resume. The very best method towards such a CV is very first to get formalized training on travel to develop insight on how the business functions. Look for expert courses in such areas as sales and marketing, travel destinations, holiday package salesmanship and such relevant fields in the travel business.
The best vocational colleges’ diplomas or university degrees usually uncover you to the geography, history, languages, and communication expertise essential when traveling to several nations around the globe. A good method right here is always to go with the training with self initiative to master about the tourism, about the planet leading to internet businesses. Today, the world-wide web is the best reservoir of knowledge that you need to continually exploit as a confident or practicing travel agent.
It will likewise do you lots of good to help keep abreast with current routines. In this regard, apply for continuing classes in the travel sector such as the CTA qualification (Certified Travel Associate) as well as the CTC certification (Certified Travel Councilor). Even while, understand that your success in the travel agent job is determined by how trustworthy you are to clients, how dependable, how effective, how structured and just how innovative you might be while coordinating the itineraries of one’s clientele.
You must discover ways to successfully communicate while selling certain locations and packages to travelers while also being able to organize a creative traveling schedule, dependable in rent cars or taxis for travelers, booking hotel rooms, assisting specific travel budgets etc, for these are the basic features of a successful travel agent. When the art is learn, having a travel agency career is among the many enchanting encounters an outdoor individual may ever ask for.

What is an Independent Traveler?
There is a certain philosophy that the independent traveler adheres to. While the tourist looks for comfort, convenience and a home away from home, the independent traveler prefers to become part of the culture as much as possible. The independent traveler likes to leave home behind.
There are many different terms in use to describe independent travelers. A hobo, in this sense, is someone without a home, spends very little or no money, and travels to work. A backpacker is a traveler on a budget who’s luggage is usually a single backpack. A flash packer has more money to spend than the hobo or backpacker, but still prefers the lifestyle of independent travel.
Regardless of the term used, independent travelers share a common philosophy.
The Independent Traveler:
1) Does Not Like to be Pampered
Independent travelers have a distaste for typical, over-priced packaged tours. They avoid rigid itineraries, instead preferring to plan their own trips. Rather than being pampered during their travels, independents feel more comfortable on their own. When one is told when to eat, where to go and how long to stay, it is like putting a noose on experience. Independents rely on their own judgment, they do not let others think for them or tell them what to do.
2) Spends Less Money to Enjoy More
The less money an independent traveler spends, the more he or she enjoys the trip. Big spending tends to isolate the traveler from new, vibrant experience. Rather than getting caught up in the consumer trap of buying expensive souvenirs, paying for useless accessories and the “convenience” of doing what you are told to do on a tour, independents do more of the things they enjoy doing, rather than buying things that distracts one from the experience of the trip.
3) Travels Light
Traveling with lots of luggage is a huge inconvenience that costs the traveler time, money and worry. All those things that tourists take with them on vacation actually impedes the trip, rather than enhance it. One of the purposes of travel is to enjoy what is there, not what is at home. Traveling light provides more freedom for the traveler and instead of baby-sitting all those “important” material possessions one can focus on experiencing life.
4) Becomes Immersed in the Culture
It is very difficult, even impossible, to experience a new place or culture when you are sheltered in a tour bus, or in a fancy hotel. The only way to maximize the experience of new things is to step into them and participate with an open mind. One travels to a foreign place to experience the foreign. Yet, too often the tourist erects shields to become isolated from the foreign experiences sought. The independent traveler does not fear what is foreign, but seeks it out and slowly, courteously, attempts to let it become a part of his or her life.
5) Goes with the Flow
Worry kills enjoyment. Time schedules, tasks and material things contribute to worry. When worry pounds away in your head you cannot truly experience what is there. It is easy to see with the eyes, it is an art to understand with the mind. The independent traveler knows that not everything always goes to plan; a flight might be canceled, a bus could be delayed, the weather may not be ideal. With a tight schedule these things could ruin a trip. With flexibility one can actually learn to enjoy them. Sometimes things happen for a reason. Sometimes you can find without seeking.
6) Believes that a Vacation is an Education
When one continues to do the same things one has always done, he or she will continue to receive the same results. Travel to the independent is more than a vacation, it is an education. Independent travel allows the individual to try new things, to see beyond one’s mental and cultural background, to experience, to learn and to grow. When one travels with an open mind learning becomes a delightful activity. Acquaintances learn from the traveler, the traveler learns from them, and therefore learns more about his or her person than otherwise would be possible. Learning extends beyond the four walls of a classroom to include the world.
7) Enjoys Freedom
To achieve freedom one does not need more. One needs less. The independent traveler has very few time constraints, material possessions, itineraries and lists of things to do. The independent is free to take advantage of any opportunity that comes along. The independent may stay up late to watch the sun set, wander into an isolated village, discover healing rituals of a disappearing culture, enjoy extra time with old friends and accept the gracious hospitality of new ones. The independent traveler understands that baggage should be left at home.
Leave things behind to take the world with you.