How was President Barack Obama’s speech today at U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s commencement in New London?
“It was a blast.” That assessment came not from one of the cadets, but from Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District.
Courtney said that while press reports speculated that Obama might use the graduation ceremony to talk about foreign policy, instead the president kept his remarks very focused on the cadets.
“He called each and every one of them up to get their degree and then their orders, and he really made a point of trying to individualize the moments they had,” Courtney said. “It was sort of loosey-goosey because people were enjoying it and hamming it up for the camera.”
Courtney clearly enjoyed it too. He noted that while Obama has made many visits to Connecticut-stopping in Greenwich for fundraisers and Bridgeport and Hartford for rallies-he had never been to the 2nd District. He said he and Gov. Dannel Malloy got a few minutes after Obama’s remarks to chat with the president.
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What did they talk about? The UConn men’s basketball team’s visit on Monday to the White House.
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The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 88% of our revenue comes from readers like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you publish it.