Patrick welcomes Obama with open arms

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Moments before Air Force One landed at Logan International Airport, Governor Deval Patrick spoke to reporters waiting on the tarmac and gushed about today's visit by President Obama.

"It's exciting. I guess I'm still an amateur about this sort of thing," Patrick said. "I think it's great that the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, is coming to see us."

Obama is scheduled to give a speech on clean energy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and attend a fund raiser for the governor at Westin Copley Place in Boston.

"It's a great personal honor," Patrick said. "It's great political recognition of the work we've been doing here in the Commonwealth.

"It's a big deal for the Commonwealth," Patrick said. "It’s a big deal for the campaign."

UPDATE: The Massachusetts Republican Party sent out a "memo" to reporters traveling with the president, complete with links about Patrick's dropping poll ratings, the state's rising unemployment rate, and its slow pace of spending stimulus dollars.

"Welcome to Boston," the memo said. "With your visit today to the capital of Red Sox Nation, we thought we might make you aware of the latest and greatest happenings in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and familiarize you with the record of our 'Disappointment Deval.' "