Barack Obama kicked off the day with a tour of an apparel facility in Allentown, Penn., before heading up to Wilkes-Barre for a town hall meeting. "It's rare to see an apparel facility still in the United States," Obama told the crowd, many of whom are probably already keenly aware of how few industrial jobs there in this post-industrial city. It was the appropriate lead-in for a speech that focused largely on the economic challenges, including health care and education concerns, of people in places like Wilkes-Barre. Here, like many places he's visited during the primary, are "people in the heart of America, people who believe in an honest day's pay for an honest day's work," said Obama. These workers want to be able to "retire with dignity and respect," he continued. "That is the common dream."
"All of us have come to worry that that dream may be slipping away, regardless of race or class," he added, and bemoaned how some workers in places like Wilkes-Barre are now "forced to compete with their kids for jobs at the local fastfood joint."
"Help us Barack!" responded one woman in the crowd.
Obama is clearly fine-tuning his populist message on this tour, and it's playing well with the crowd here this morning. Of course there's still much of the state to reach if he's to overcome Clinton's advantage here, which is currently around 16 points.
--Kate Sheppard
