Obama ends two-week tour on economy at Chicago forum
Barack Obama capped off his two-week national tour on economic issues with a stop in Chicago Friday, conducting a forum with 16 Democratic governors, most of whom called for heavy federal investment in infrastructure and alternative energy sources.
The private event, staged at the Chicago History Museum on the Near North Side, was one part policy forum, one part campaign event and, perhaps, one part audition: Five participants have drawn attention as possible Obama running mates.
Party unity emerged as a theme, too. Some attendees -- notably Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania and Ted Strickland of Ohio -- backed Hillary Clinton throughout the primary season.
More Coverage Video sg=0620dv_obama_campaignf=ilarl" class="mediaItem">Obama talks economy with Democratic governors
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich -- who, like Obama, has received unwelcome attention for ties to convicted fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko -- was conspicuously absent. Obama's camp said it invited all 28 Democratic governors; Blagojevich aides said he opted to address flood-related issues, as did Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, who also skipped the forum.
Friday's 75-minute discussion stressed Obama's economic priorities: middle-class tax cuts, expiration of tax cuts for highest-income Americans, and investment in education and health care along with infrastructure and alternative energy sources.
Mutual admiration reigned. Obama praised the governors for eschewing political posturing in favor of balancing budgets and solving problems.
"I've always been struck by the essential common sense and pragmatism of governors in comparison to some of the stuff that goes on in Washington," he said.
The governors thanked Obama for soliciting their views and said his election would form a partnership between states and the White House they say has been missing during the Bush years.
Governor after governor said their residents are struggling to make ends meet in the face of rising gasoline and food prices and are hard-pressed to pay for health insurance and college tuition.
They spoke of lost jobs. Strickland said calls this week from DHL General Motors and Continental Airlines informed him of 10,000 to 12,000 additional job losses in his state. Michigan's Jennifer Granholm said her state has lost 400,000 manufacturing jobs since Bush took office.
Obama and the governors zeroed in on immediate spending on infrastructure as a way to boost employment in jobs that can't be outsourced. Rendell said states have been shouldering a larger share of infrastructure spending for the past four decades and no longer can keep up. Obama calls for a $60 billion "national infrastructure investment bank."
Obama asked each governor to describe his or her biggest challenges. Despite largely common themes, answers did vary depending on each state's special interests. Granholm, for instance, pleaded for research into battery technology that might help revive her state's battered auto industry. West Virginia's Joe Manchin made a pitch for clean-coal technology research. Arizona and New Mexico governors lobbied for immigration reform.
Several governors echoed Obama's wariness of free trade agreements that do not, in their view, adequately protect U.S. jobs.
"In Michigan," Granholm said, "we say that 'as applied, NAFTA and CAFTA have given us the shaft-a.' "
Obama drilled presumptive Republican nominee John McCain's call this week for offshore oil exploration, and several governors termed McCain's policies a recipe for failure.
Obama also drew a direct line between Iraq war spending and domestic needs.
"The $10 billion a month spent in Iraq is taking away money that could be used to fix roads, bridges, hospitals, schools and dams," Obama said.
Besides Strickland and Rendell, participants mentioned for the vice presidency were Kansas' Kathleen Sebelius, Arizona's Janet Napolitano and New Mexico's Bill Richardson.