President Obama visits Des Moines high school to talk about college costs

Obama, who jump-started his 2008 campaign with a win in the Iowa Democratic caucuses, did shadow box a little with the Republicans during a town hall at a high school in Des Moines, referring at points to GOP criticism of teachers’ unions.

Obama will hold a town hall at one of the most ethnically diverse high schools in the state.

His reluctance to step into the Democratic nominating contest can be explained by the undecided Vice President Joe Biden, who hasn’t yet said whether he’s running for president. However the go to additionally allowed the president to make an imprint on the 2016 race, arguing for Democratic priorities and drawing a distinction with the various Republican candidates blanketing the state. Iowa is only one of seven states the secretary is visiting this week.

Later in the afternoon, the President spent more than an hour taking questions in a sweaty auditorium on a variety of subjects involving education.

Obama hasn’t endorsed Clinton, though he’s said she would be an excellent president. Among the Democrats, a self-declared socialist senator, Bernie Sanders, is surging against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was campaigning in the eastern part of Iowa on Monday.

And this being Iowa, the election was on the minds of many of those attending the president’s event.

An announcement from the White House over weekend lets college students apply for federal financial aid earlier than they used to.

Then Obama ended with this: “When I hear folks talking as if somehow these kids are different from my kids or less worthy in the eyes of God, that somehow they are less worthy of our respect and consideration and care, I think that’s un-American”.

But there are plenty of places Obama could have traveled to to underscore his administration’s efforts in reducing student debt.

“Your teachers, your principal, your superintendent deserve credit for the improvements that have been made”, Obama said. “Anybody who comes to speak to you and you disagree with, you should have an argument with them, but you shouldn’t silence them by saying you can’t come because I’m too sensitive to hear what you have to say”.

But when a student asked whether the plan would help students who are undocumented immigrants – prompting shouts of “Trump!” from students in the back – Obama seized on the opportunity to wade into immigration policy, a major focus of Republican front-runner Donald Trump.