Fort Myers residents line up early to see Obama on Tuesday

BY EVAN S. BENN, Miami Herald

FORT MYERS -- Several dozen people set up camping chairs and blankets outside the downtown convention center in Fort Myers, two days ahead of President Barack Obama's town hall meeting Tuesday.

First in line: Roy Hendrix, a formerly homeless man who showed up at 9:30 a.m. Sunday to secure his free ticket -- one of 1,500 being given away.

''I get to see the president of the United States, in my town,'' said Hendrix, 51. ``That's better than any rock concert or the World Series.''

Jodi Sasloe of Fort Myers sat in a folding chair right behind Hendrix. She said she had been planning to camp out since hearing Friday about the president's visit.

'I was just like, `I need to get there,' '' Sasloe said.

Obama is coming to promote the $827 billion economic stimulus plan that the Senate is expected to take up on Tuesday. He chose this Republican-heavy swath of Southwest Florida because Fort Myers' unemployment rate has climbed to 10 percent -- up from 6 percent last year -- and its housing market is among the worst.

Obama will tour neighborhoods in nearby Lehigh Acres before Tuesday's event. Streets around Lehigh Acres are dotted with homes in foreclosure and with unfinished construction.

Before Hendrix became homeless, he worked for 12 years at a pawn shop -- until it went out of business. Then, when the housing boom came to Florida, Hendrix found plenty of construction work, but during the past two years those jobs have all but dried up.

''All the work just went away, and now I just do odd jobs here and there to get by,'' Hendrix said.

People in line -- about 60 by Sunday night -- would receive tickets starting at 9 a.m. Monday.

Hendrix wanted one ticket for himself and one for his 26-year-old daughter. He said he thinks he will be too nervous to ask Obama a question if given the chance.

''But I would like to thank him for giving us hope that he can help turn this economy around,'' he said. ``If he can do that, then he really is the best man for the job.''