| IN THE HEADLINES Obama woes working-class voters in Michigan ... Democrats SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS widen majority in Congress with win in Mississippi special election
Obama tries to build support with working-class voters STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) -- Democrat Barack Obama, campaigning in a state that poses several problems for him in the fall, appealed to working-class voters Wednesday with a pledge to pump an extra $200 million a year into efforts to revitalize the nation's manufacturing sector. One day after blue-collar workers overwhelmingly rejected him in West Virginia's presidential primary, Obama came to this auto-making suburb of Detroit to announce plans to create an "advanced manufacturing fund" to promote industries likely to keep jobs in the United States rather than see them move overseas. He also stepped up his criticisms of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, saying the Arizona senator offered no solutions when he told Michigan voters in January that many of their lost jobs would not come back. McCain "was right" about that, Obama said in remarks prepared for a midday speech. "But where he's wrong is in suggesting that there's nothing we can do to replace those jobs or create new ones." He proposed spending $90 million a year to double the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The program has helped manufacturers improve efficiency and growth, Obama said, but has been underfunded. Another $100 million annually would launch the advanced manufacturing fund, which would award grants to businesses working with researchers to develop and expand products and efficient practices. The Illinois senator spoke to union workers and their families at Macomb County Community College in Warren, Mich., after touring a Chrysler plant in Sterling Heights. The region is rich in so-called Reagan Democrats, who have often abandoned the party when it nominates candidates they view as too socially liberal, but who also have rejected Republicans they see as insufficiently concerned about working-class families living from paycheck to paycheck. Strategists see Michigan as a must-win state for Obama. Democratic presidential nominees have carried it in recent elections, but by narrow margins, and McCain has campaigned here several times.
Miss. Democrat wins House seat in special election JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- It's becoming a disturbing trend for Republicans: losing traditional GOP strongholds to Democrats in some hard-fought congressional races. It happened again Tuesday, as Travis Childers beat Greg Davis in a special election to replace Republican Roger Wicker, who served in the House since 1994 and was appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill the seat vacated by Trent Lott. Childers' win will give him the chance over the next several months left in the seat's two-year term to build a fundraising and publicity advantage as he heads into November's general election. He will again face Davis, as well as two other opponents. Childers' win gave Democrats a 236-199 edge over Republicans in Congress. Earlier this year, Democrats captured the Illinois district long represented by former Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert, who resigned from Congress. This month, Democrats claimed a seat in Louisiana that Republican Rep. Richard Baker vacated and that the GOP had held since 1974. Childers is a socially conservative county official, while Davis is mayor of a fast-growing city across the state line from Memphis, Tenn. Vice President Dick Cheney campaigned for Davis the day before the special election, and Davis ran ads trying to tie Childers to Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the national Democratic Party's policies.
THE DELEGATE BREAKDOWN Barack Obama: 1,885 Hillary Rodham Clinton: 1,717
THE DEMOCRATS Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the District of Columbia. Barack Obama discusses the economy with workers and holds a rally in Michigan.
THE REPUBLICANS John McCain raises campaign cash in Columbus, Ohio.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "When I came to West Virginia, it took people a while to accept me. Barack is new to West Virginia, and the Clintons are not new to West Virginia." -- West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a supporter of Democrat Barack Obama who lost the state's Democratic presidential primary to Hillary Rodham Clinton.
STAT OF THE DAY: About six in 10 Democratic voters in West Virginia supported Hillary Rodham Clinton's proposal to suspend the federal gas tax for the summer and three-quarters of those voted for her, according to exit polls.
Compiled by Ann Sanner. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Related News Topics:
Party politics and electioneering
Presidential news
Top U.S. news
|
