Experts say Barack Obama needs to talk 'jobs, jobs, jobs'

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/08/_denver_as_barack_obama.html

Posted by Stephen Koff and Mark Naymik August 29, 2008 00:01AM

THE RACE IN OHIO

DENVER -- As Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden leave Denver to spend this weekend in Ohio, they must start talking differently -- and use allies to spark a potentially culture-changing conversation on race.

That's what political veterans, labor leaders and politicians at the Democratic National Convention and in Ohio say is needed for Obama to win the swing state of Ohio. It comes down to geography, race and the need to shift the talk from lofty rhetoric into what Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of Toledo said is issue No. 1: "Jobs, jobs, jobs."


AP Photo/Paul SancyaDemocratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama,, right, and Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden, look at the fireworks at the conclusion of Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention at Invesco Field in Denver. At left is Michelle Obama.


Part of the challenge is gaining the trust of blue-collar workers in small towns and rural sections of Ohio. Obama performed poorly there in the March primary. He already has support in Democratic cities such as Cleveland, but workers in other industrial areas of the state could be drawn to Republican Sen. John McCain.

Acknowledging the geographic challenge, Harriet Applegate, head of the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, based in Cleveland, said: "We have only half the battle here compared to downstate, because more of our members here are Democrats.

"But we need help from Obama here. He needs to come here. I feel a lot of responsibility because a lot hangs on us here."

The view that Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan are integral to winning the White House explains why Obama is starting the post-convention campaign in those three states.

FULL story at link.

[thunder rising]

1. It's just a wonder he captured the nomination without all this advise.

[daninthemoon]

2. energy, energy, energy, fixes jobs and everything else