Bush hits the road to highlight State of the Union proposals
By Judy Keen, USA TODAY
TOLEDO, Ohio — President Bush focused Wednesday on the nation's unemployment rate, which is still at 5.7% despite good news about housing, worker productivity and other measures. (Related story: Job growth Q&A)
President Bush cited his training plan as a way to reduce joblessness during a talk Wednesday at Owens Community College in Ohio.
Lawrence Jackson, AP
Bush is counting on improvements in the economy to help him make the case for his re-election, but lagging job growth could erode voters' confidence.
In his State of the Union address Tuesday, Bush proposed spending $250 million to help community colleges teach workers new skills to match vacant jobs. He went on the road Wednesday to promote the idea.
First stop: Ohio, a state that is critical to his re-election. Bush won Ohio by 3.5 percentage points in 2000 and wants its 20 Electoral College votes this year.
But unemployment here, which was 3.9% when he took office, has reached the national rate of 5.7%. That's 331,000 Ohioans looking for work in November, the last month for which figures are available.
"I fully recognize in Ohio there are still troubled times," Bush said. "The manufacturing here is sluggish at best and, therefore, people are looking for work."
Last week, Democratic Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe was in Toledo. "We're going to give you the resources to win this state," he told union leaders. "The Democratic nominee is going to be in this state so much you might get sick of seeing him."
In a casual, chummy program Wednesday, Bush sat onstage at Owens Community College and held a conversation about the school's efforts to train workers to fill specific needs of the area's employers.
Becky Albritton, who was laid off last year from a manufacturing company, told Bush that a local career center got her enrolled in high-tech classes at the college. She'll graduate in two or three months.
Mike Potter also went back to school after the factory where he worked closed. After graduating, he said, he got a good job at Oracle Packaging in Toledo, where he is responsible for plant maintenance.
Bush coaxed Albritton and Potter to share their stories.
Albritton, he said, "struggled, and here she sits with a bright future." He called Potter an "example of what is possible when people make up their mind to improve themselves and seek opportunity."
The point of Bush's appearance was to suggest that the proposals he outlined Tuesday will reduce the unemployment rate eventually.
Outside the college, about 200 protesters gathered around two inflatable rats that towered over them. One rat bore a sign that said, "Where are the jobs?" The other had a sign reading, "Rats' best friend: Bush."
Later, at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Ariz., Bush met with another group of current and former community college students.
Stacey Leedom, a single mother who was a graphic artist but went back to school to study computer network administration, now works for a cable TV company.
"If you're worried about your skill set, you're never too old to learn," Bush said. "The changing economy can leave people behind," he said, but it also can bring people into higher-paying jobs. Arizona's unemployment rate is 4.8%.
Thursday, Bush will talk about the war on terrorism in Roswell, N.M. |
