WASHINGTON — President Obama will travel to Western New York on Thursday to discuss the economy, but if the visit is like the others on his "White House to Main Street Tour," he will get to hear from a lot of Buffalonians.

Previous stops on the tour have featured town hall-style meetings open to the public,

visits to local restaurants and even an occasional unscheduled visit.

Obama will be visiting the region not just to talk, but to listen, White House deputy

press secretary Bill Burton said Thursday, noting that details of the Buffalo trip have not

yet been ironed out.

"The president wants to talk about jobs and the effect his administration is having on the

economy," Burton said. "But it's also an opportunity for him to hear from the American people

— in this case, Buffalonians."

Obama began the tour in Allentown, Pa., last December and has since talked about the

economy with residents of several other communities, including Lorain, Ohio, and Ottumwa,

Iowa.

Asked why the president chose to go to Buffalo, Burton, a Buffalo native, said: "Buffalo is

a place with a lot of opportunity for economic growth, and obviously, it is a place that the

president is interested in going to see."

Presidential visits to the Buffalo area

April 20, 2004: George W. Bush

Jan. 20, 1999: Bill Clinton

Oct. 3, 1996: Bill Clinton (Chautauqua Institution)

Sept. 12, 1984: Ronald Reagan

Oct. 1, 1980: Jimmy Carter (Niagara Falls)

Oct. 28, 1978: Jimmy Carter

Oct. 31, 1976: Gerald R. Ford

Aug. 19, 1966:Lyndon B. Johnson

Oct. 15, 1964:Lyndon B. Johnson

Oct. 14, 1962: John F. Kennedy

Oct. 9, 1952: Harry S. Truman

Oct. 8, 1948: Harry S. Truman

June 13, 1947: Harry S. Truman

Oct. 17, 1936: Franklin D. Roosevelt

April 30, 1910: William Howard Taft

Sept. 14, 1901: Theodore Roosevelt

Sept. 4, 1901: William McKinley

Gallery: Photos from the presidents' visits

An array of Democrats, including Burton and Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown, have made a pitch

to the president for a visit, but Burton said Obama was coming to Buffalo this time at the

behest of Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, D-N.Y.

"This shows his strong commitment to the region," Gillibrand said. "It is something I

advocated for, because I believe Western New York can play a leading role in America's

economic recovery."

Brown and Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, received calls from the White House earlier this

week seeking suggestions on possible venues for the president's Buffalo events.

Brown said the White House asked about businesses and restaurants that the president might

want to visit, along with possible locales for the town hall-style meeting.

"I think they're reviewing a lot of locations," Brown said. "Fortunately, we have a number

of businesses that are creating jobs and several transformative projects under way" that the

president might want to visit.

While the White House announced a trip to "the Buffalo area," Higgins said he believed that

the president was most interested in visiting locations within the city.

"We have a lot to showcase, from our industrial history to the new, more diverse economy

that's emerging," Higgins said.

The announcement of Obama's visit came two days after the White House announced a $16.1

million federal economic-stimulus grant to help a local coalition of hospitals and insurers

expand its efforts to use electronic medical records.

That being the case, local officials speculated that the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus

would be high on the list of possible venues for the president to visit.

The "White House to Main Street Tour" has included camera-friendly appearances at factories

and restaurants.

Newspaper accounts of his trip to Allentown show him making five stops in five hours. And

Obama's two-day swing through the Midwest last week included an unscheduled stop at an organic

farm in Iowa and a discussion with patrons at Peggy Sue's Cafe in Monroe City, Mo.

Public events have been a central part of the tour, with the tickets being made available

on a first-come, first-served basis a day or so before each event.

Obama's visit to Buffalo will be the first by a president since George W. Bush came to

Kleinhans Music Hall in April 2004 to discuss the USA Patriot Act.

This trip comes at a time when the American public is deeply divided about Obama's

presidency. The latest Gallup poll, taken earlier this week, shows 50 percent of Americans

approving of his job performance and 42 percent disapproving.

The depth of that division was made clear Thursday morning in the comments to the article

on the Web site of The Buffalo News that first reported on the Obama visit.

Within four hours, the article attracted 184 comments, many of them sharply debating

Obama's performance and the health care legislation that he helped push through Congress

earlier this spring.

The unprecedented size of the federal deficit enraged several of the commenters, but an

outspoken critic of the deficit, Rep. Chris Lee, R-Clarence, nonetheless lauded Obama's

decision to come to Buffalo.

"I think it's a great opportunity" to discuss the deficit and other economic issues with

the president, Lee said.

Lee said it was unclear whether the congressional schedule would allow him to return to

Buffalo for the president's visit. Higgins and Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, indicated

that they hope to attend, as did Gillibrand and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.

"I couldn't think of a better Main Street place that is beginning to turn around than the

Buffalo area," Schumer said.

Slaughter agreed that Buffalo is the ideal place for Obama to continue his discussion of

the economy — and to sample some real Main Street food.

"I'm sure he likes wings," Slaughter said. "Who wouldn't?"