In Iowa, Obama touts wind energy, stimulus help
Posted: April 27, 2010 at 3:22 p.m.
President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a Siemens Energy wind turbine blade plant in Fort Madison, Iowa Tuesday.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa — Back in the state that jump-started his White House bid, President Barack Obama sought to reassure wary Iowa voters with a message he hopes will resonate in the fall elections: The economic recovery hasn’t reached everyone, but progress is being made.
Starting his two-day, three-state Midwestern trip, Obama focused on his economic and clean energy programs as job creators, even as he acknowledged the pain and skepticism of hard-hit areas. He’s not on the ballot this year, but his party’s control of Congress is at stake, along with dozens of governors’ seats and state legislatures.
Despite encouraging news about an expanding economy and markets, the president told an Iowa crowd, “times are still tough in towns like Fort Madison. And times are still tough for middle-class Americans, who had been swimming against the current for years before the economic tidal wave hit.”
Obama outlined his administration’s goals to “create conditions so that folks who work hard can finally get ahead.” They include improving schools, making college more affordable, expanding health coverage and preventing Wall Street irresponsibility, he said.
Underscoring the challenge was agriculture secretary and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who told reporters traveling with Obama: “There’s a silent crisis occurring in rural America that’s been ongoing for several decades.” He said the president is delivering a new framework for the “revival of the rural economy.”
Obama also plans to stop in Illinois and Missouri before returning to the White House late Wednesday. Iowa and Missouri are sharply contested in virtually every election, and Republicans this year think they can snag the Illinois Senate seat that Obama held before becoming president.
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