Barack Obama Can't Wait to Bring Jobs to Indiana

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Sun Apr-27-08 09:23 AM
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Barack Obama Can't Wait to Bring Jobs to Indiana

ANDERSON — Tiffany Dzerve sat quietly and by herself during the time leading up to the arrival of Sen. Barack Obama Saturday afternoon. She was in a seat next to a long, black curtain, about four feet tall, that separated the audience from Obama and snaked its way from his entry to the staging area. Inside, the curtain was lined with Secret Service agents.

When it was time for Obama to make his entrance, to wild cheers, Tiffany was with him. The two walked up to the podium, and Tiffany faced the microphone.

Tiffany had a story to tell and, while volunteering for Obama’s campaign, was chosen to introduce him. As was the case with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s visit on March 20, Tiffany’s story had to do with now defunct auto industry in Anderson and the price workers paid after losing their jobs.

She had worked at Delphi in Plant 20 for a year and a half before accepting a buyout prior to the plant closing. Her husband, Chad, had been at Delphi for eight years before he, too, had taken the buyout.

“We lost our job security, income, vacation and most importantly, health insurance,” she said. The two pay $1,600 a month in insurance, which means they can only afford for their children, ages 2 1/2 and 3 months. She and Chad are now in school, she at Ivy Tech, he at Anderson University, and both eventually hope to become teachers.

To great applause, she told the crowd: “We’re going from UAW members to AFT members,” from the auto union to the teachers union. “We’re proud supporters of unions. That’s why I’m voting for Barack Obama as the next president.”

That was Obama’s cue. He gave Tiffany a kiss, and she exited the stage area. He grabbed the microphone and took as his first subject the plight of workers in Anderson and America.

"We can't wait to bring jobs to Anderson and we can't wait to bring an end to the war in Iraq," Obama said.

Transitioning to energy: "Why is it that you're paying $3.61 at the pump today?"

"It's because your president, George W. Bush, put my cousin Dick Cheney in office and let him run it all!"

Sen. Obama admitted that he won’t be able to bring gas prices down overnight, unlike some politicians (are promising) who are proposing a federal gas tax holiday. “This is one of John McCain’s latest schemes,” Obama said, saying it would save drivers only $25. “That’s the federal highway fund that we use to build our roads and our bridges, you remember that bridge in Minneapolis? We’re already short on money in terms of investing – and for what – for 25 bucks?” (http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/04/26/obama-on-mccains-latest-scheme/)

Gone are the days of $1.50 gas prices, he said, but in order to reduce gas prices, Obama would “go after oil companies for their windfall profits,” investigate price gouging, and increase fuel efficiency standards.

“John McCain’s a genuine American hero,” Obama said , “but he's running for George Bush’s third term.”

Obama said McCain’s plans for handling the war in Iraq and other American issues mirrored those of the current president. “We can’t afford four more years of failed foreign policy.”

Referring to McCain’s comment that the economy was making great progress, Obama said, “He must not be talking to the people in Anderson.

“The straight-talk express lost a wheel,” Obama joked, referencing McCain’s comments.

“I know they don’t want four more years of Bush’s economic policy,” Obama said, sending the crowd into applause.

During his time as vice president, Obama said, Cheney has met with renewable energy groups once and gas and oil companies 40 times.

“We’ve got to go after the oil companies and their windfall profits,” he said.

Obama did promise to focus on making automobiles more fuel-efficient. He also announced plans to spend time and money exploring alternative energy sources. He estimated that five million jobs could be created making wind mills, solar panels and other forms of renewable energy.

The senator wasted no time making a link between the economy and education. “How successful America is, is going to depend on how educated its work force is.”

Obama pledged to help every student go to college by providing $4,000 tuition stipends in return for community service. “We’ll invest in you. You invest in America,” he said.

He announced plans to pay teachers more, work with at-risk parents and change the face of education. “I don’t want teachers teaching to test.”

“How do we get rid of that huge divisiveness in this country?,” a voter asked Obama in Anderson. (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/26/obama-ive-been-taking-some-hits/)

“The president sets the tone,” the Illinois senator said before explaining the bipartisan approach he’d take if elected to the White House.

“But, I’m also going to try to show this during the course of the campaign,” he added. “Sometimes you take some hits. Even during this campaign, I’ve been taking some hits.”

“One of the things that I learned in the school yard was: the folks that are talking tough all the time, they’re not always that tough. If you’re really tough, you’re not always looking to try to start a fight. If you’re really tough, sometimes you just walk away. If you’re really tough, you just save it for when you really need it,” Obama said.

“I’m not interested in fighting people just for the sake of scoring political points.” “If I’m going to fight somebody it’s going to be fighting over the American people and what they need.”

"If you watched the last few weeks of campaign, you'd think all politics is about is negative ads and bickering and arguing and gaffes and sideline issues," he said. "There's no serious discussion about how we're actually going to bring jobs back to Anderson, that's not what's being debated. That's the politics we've gotten used to over the last 20 years, and I'm tired of that politics because it doesn't solve problems. One of the things we've got to do is bring this country together and stop being distracted by back and forth ticky-tack. I've resisted that in this campaign and I will continue to resist it when I'm president of the United States of America." (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/26/obama_stumps_in_indiana.html)

"Senator Clinton has differences with me and I have differences with her," he said. "I just have to remind everyone that those differences pale in comparison with the difference we have with George W. Bush and John McCain. We will be unified in November for the change this country needs. I promise you that."

MARION, IND. -- Barack Obama made a pledge today not to talk about what he calls “distractions” in the election, but rather to focus on issues.

“Over the next nine days, I’m not going to talk about the distractions and game playing – we’re going to talk about what matters with the working people,” Obama said. “Good jobs that pay a decent wage, health care that’s affordable and accessible, a first class education for every child in America.”

Both Obama and Hillary Clinton have come under fire recently for their increasingly negative rhetoric. While on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, Obama defended his tone by saying, “there have been times where if you get elbowed enough, eventually you start elbowing back.” Obama said those distractions are good for television ratings but not good for voters.

“All of the reporting is about the latest negative ad, the latest gaffe, who’s saying what about whom, that’s not helpful. That’s not making your lives better," he said. "It may be giving the chattering class something to chatter about, but it’s not moving things forward.”

Obama gave a short address that focused largely on the issues he would like to see changed, like job loss, healthcare and education.

He says those issues prompted him to run for president.

"We could not afford to wait. We couldn't wait to fix our schools. We couldn't wait to fix our healthcare system. We couldn't afford to wait to bring jobs to Marion, Indiana Kokomo and other places across the country," says Obama.

A few audience members were selected to grill the candidate.

One of the biggest questions posed asked Senator Obama what his top three priorities would be if elected.

He responded: troop withdrawal from Iraq, healthcare and energy independence.

"We're going to have to make sacrifices. We're going to have to work hard to get the country back on track, but if we come together there's no reason we can't accomplish it, so that's why this election is so important."