NASHVILLE (AP) - Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has made a habit of being elsewhere the last three times President Barack Obama has visited Tennessee. But on Friday, just as Haslam prepares for a tough sell to the GOP-controlled Legislature on Medicaid expansion, the governor plans to be front and center with the Democratic president when he visits Knoxville.

Haslam insists he's unworried about any political ramifications among fellow Republicans for appearing alongside Obama, noting that the president is coming to Tennessee to highlight the state's free community college program.

State Republicans have spent years vilifying Obama and his health care policies, and the lawmakers last year enacted a law requiring their approval for any Medicaid deal by the governor in what supporters dubbed the "Stop Obamacare Act."