house correspondent on the road with the president in kansas city now. this trip is a little bit about policy and a lot a bit about politics. right? that s right, shepard. let s talk about policy. welcome to smith electric vehicles where they made battery powered trucks. this opened in 2009 and sold trucks then and hopes to sell more this year. it will lower their unit cost which is about twice the cost of a competitive diesel delivery truck. but when that money expires in 18 months, the company hopes to be up on its own and no longer needs subsidies. the president says that kind of grant and assistance will help create green jobs though smith electric vehicles have not added any employees to its 50 existing employees right now. all under the politics, shepard. from here, the president drove down and campaigned for the democratic candidate running for the united states senate and in his appearance there, said republicans who were trying to