toledoblade.com --

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama vowed to help rebuilding Toledo’s economy with clean energy jobs of the future, in an hour-long “town hall meeting” at the main downtown library.

Standing on the sunlit roof garden of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library Sunday afternoon, Mr. Obama and running mate Joseph Biden took turns speaking and then answering questions.

Several hundred people attended the event, which was Mr. Obama’s first visit to Toledo since speaking to a capacity crowd at the University of Toledo before the March 4 primary.

The appearance of the Democratic ticket in Toledo was part of a two-day bus tour of the state that included stops in Cleveland, Dublin, and Lima. Mr. Obama continues on Sunday night to Michigan, to prepare for campaign appearances Monday in Detroit and Monroe.

OBAMA-BIDEN IN TOLEDO

Mr. Biden said he hoped the election wouldn’t end the way a game between Anthony Wayne and Clay high schools did — the Friday night game went into five overtimes before Anthony Wayne won 52-46 — and said a victory in Ohio would help ensure national victory.

“Ohio’s got to make sure there is no overtime this time,” Mr. Biden said.

“The reason Barack is running for president and I am running for vice president is we believe our job is first and foremost to help America get back up on its feet,” he said. “I’ve never seen a time when so many people in America are knocked down and their government has done so little to help them get back up.”

Mr. Obama said he is advocating a $150 billion investment over 10 years to retool America’s industries to run on and to make products for clean energy. He blasted presumed Republican nominee John McCain for spending 26 years in the Senate but not accomplishing energy reform.

He promised tax relief for 95 percent of Americans, universal health care, and a trade policy that includes labor and environmental standards that can be enforced.

Obama makes first stop on Ohio trail

From earlier editions of toledoblade.com.

LIMA— Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama attended church here Sunday and then said he would offer his campaign’s huge number of volunteers and donors to help respond to damage that could be caused by Hurricane Gustav in the Gulf states.

Mr. Obama stopped for the 10 a.m. service at St. Luke Lutheran Church, 209 West North St., on the route of his motorcade from Marysville, Ohio — where the campaign entourage spent the night — to Toledo.

After the 90-minute service, Mr. Obama shook hands with people in the crowd that had gathered behind police tape that sealed off the intersection.

Afterward, Mr. Obama expressed concern about the approaching hurricane and said he hopes people cooperate with security.

He offered the campaign’s resources in the form of contacting the campaign’s volunteers and donors to provide assistance.

Wearing gray slacks, a navy sport jacket, and open-collared white shirt, he entered St. Luke’s and remained through the service, participating in communion, and then shaking hands with fellow worshippers.

Ruby Sims, 58, who came to the service with two grandchildren, said she is active in the local Democratic Party. She knew he was planning to go to church in Lima on Sunday, but didn’t know until just before the service began that it would be at St. Luke’s.

She said Mr. Obama’s visit was unusual for the conservative-leaning community.

“It’s the first time that I know that a Democratic candidate came here. We always get Republicans,” she said. “We’re blessed to have the next President of the United States.”

The Obama campaign has vowed to take his message out to rural communities that previous candidates have conceded to the Republicans.

Mr. Obama and Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden won their party’s nomination last week, making the Illinois senator the first black candidate for president of a major political party. They will face Republican Senator John McCain and running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who are expected to claim their party’s nomination at the national convention this week in St. Paul.

They immediately hit the campaign trail, and were in Youngstown, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Dublin.

They are to meet in an invitation-only town hall event at the main branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The “On The Road to Change Bus Tour” is to continue into Michigan Sunday night.

Mr. Obama declined to criticize Mr. McCain’s plans to go to Mississippi today to check on preparations for the arrival of Hurricane Gustav. “A big storm like this raises bipartisan concerns; for John to want to know what’s going on is fine,” he said.

But he expressed concern about tying up resources, such as police and fire departments, that could conflict with the storm response.

“We’re going to try to stay clear of the area until things have settled, then we’ll try to figure out how to be as helpful as possible,” Mr. Obama said.

“I think we can get tons of volunteers to travel down there if it becomes necessary,” Mr. Obama said.

He said the response seems to be well coordinated between state and city officials.

“My hope is that we all learned from the terrible lesson that we saw after Katrina and Rita,” Mr. Obama said. “Having said that, even if some of those lessons have been learned it is still very unpredictable what the course of the storm is going to be or what its magnitude is and this is always going to be difficult.”

He said the Obama campaign’s emphasis in Northcentral Ohio would be jobs and the economy.

“We have to have a White House that is thinking day in and day out about how we are going to bring jobs particularly back to the Midwest and the heartland with the weakening of the auto industry and manufacturing,” Mr. Obama said.

He said not all the same types of jobs would be restored, but that lost jobs could be replaced by new jobs he said would be created through his emphasis on “clean energy,” and by reinvestment in public infrastructure, such as roads, high-speed rail, broadband, and the electric grid.

“For the last eight years we have not seen that kind of consistent strategy coming out of the White House that is going to be there when I am president,” he said.

In a reply, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Urbana) said that Mr. Obama’s promise to raise taxes on some Americans would be harmful to the economy. Mr. Obama has said he would raises taxes on incomes above $250,000.

“Raising taxes is a bad idea no matter who you are raising them on,” Mr. Jordan said.

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