Presidential candidate holds gathering in Warren,
visits Sterling Heights Chrysler plant

By Brian C. Louwers
C & G Staff Writer

WARREN — Democratic presidential nominee front-runner Sen. Barack Obama was back in Michigan for the first time in months on May 14, bringing with him ambitious plans to partner with automakers, reinvigorate the state’s manufacturing sector, and generate economic security for the region’s struggling working class families.

Admittedly, he said he could not meet any of those challenges and goals alone.

“I’m not claiming that when I’m president suddenly every problem is going to be solved. I’m going to need you to work with me to solve problems,” Obama said, speaking to a crowd of about 250 invited workers, students, campaign volunteers and assembled members of the media at Macomb Community College’s South Campus in Warren. “I’m going to need the American people to work with me, to hold Congress accountable and to hold me accountable.”

To secure the support he’ll ultimately need in Michigan should he be named to oppose Republican Sen. John McCain in November, Obama will also need the blessings of the region’s automakers that, in many ways, were the focus of his trip back to Michigan.

Before heading to Warren, Obama stopped in Sterling Heights for a brief walk-through and meeting at Chrysler’s stamping plant at 15 Mile and Van Dyke, where he was greeted by Vice Chairman Jim Press, Plant Manager Dean Hendrickson and Bob Stuglin, president of UAW Local 1264.

“They went into a private room, where they discussed matters of public policy important to Chrysler, such as energy policy, health care and things like that,” said Chrysler spokesman Ed Saenz.

Afterward, Chrysler officials led Obama on a tour of the plant floor, where the senator got a glimpse of the facility’s operations and spoke to workers.

“There seemed to be a lot of fans of the senator in the plant,” said Saenz.

Obama later told the crowd in Warren that he had met with workers at the plant who offered first-hand accounts of the economy’s impact on their abilities to get by.

The Sterling Heights visit concluded with Chrysler representatives showing Obama a Chrysler Sebring that runs on ethanol and a Dodge Avenger, both built at the nearby Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, along with a diesel-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee and a hybrid-electric Chrysler Aspen. The selected vehicles were “four vehicles we thought were important,” said Saenz.

“We think it’s great that (Obama) wanted to come and learn a little bit more about the automobile industry and how important it is to Sterling Heights and the whole region — and in our opinion, the whole country,” said Saenz. “The senator seemed interested in learning about the things we’re doing. Inside the plant, we’re doing things like stamping with aluminum instead of steel, which makes the vehicle lighter and more fuel-efficient without compromising strength. We showed him those types of things we were doing in Sterling Heights.”

In his opening remarks of the lunchtime “town hall” meeting, Obama spoke of rising fuel, food and health care costs, felt as strongly among Michigan’s workers — those he said who are struggling to build lives and strong families — as they are anywhere in the country.

“They’re common hopes, and modest dreams,” Obama said. “But they’re slipping out of the reach of American families.”

Obama floated plans he said were designed to both strengthen manufacturing and to foster a move toward energy independence. His proposals included investments of $150 billion over 10 years to fund advances in green technology, and an additional $10 billion annually in a capital fund designed to promote the domestic commercialization of new technologies pioneered in the United States.

He also called for increased educational opportunities for those seeking careers in green jobs, a resolution to the nation’s perceived healthcare crisis, and adjustments in global trade policies designed to level the playing field for American companies and workers.

Obama pointed to rising costs, and the loss of jobs, and called on those who build cars and other goods to partner with him to rebuild the economic stability of the region, and the country. 

“We’re taking steps in the right direction,” Obama said. “American automakers are on the move, but we have to do more. They can’t do it on their own. We need a partner in the White House. When I am president, they will have that partner.”

Obama later took a handful of questions from the audience on topics ranging from the war in Iraq to educational standards to the treatment of and opportunities for U.S. veterans.

Michael Dear of Clinton Township asked about health care assistance for his father, who despite his job with the U.S. Border Patrol, has been burdened by health care costs after a battle with cancer.

Dear said he was heartened by Obama’s pledge to reform health care by negotiating drug prices, providing a catastrophic insurance program to protect employers, as well as employees, from costs incurred after catastrophic injuries, and to offer the uninsured a chance to purchase the same insurance made available to the members of the U.S. Congress.

“He’s had some major health problems. It’s just kind of sad, to the point where he’s wondering if we’d be better off if he wasn’t around,” Dear said of his father. “I think universal health care is a need for the United States.”

Annivory Calvert of Detroit, the mother of state Rep. Coleman A. Young, D-Detroit, said she came out to support Obama because of what he stands for.

“He is an excellent example, not just for all people, but for our African-American boys who are growing up. He gives us hope that he’s the peace in the middle of the storm.

“When I was 13 my family marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. He embodies the spirit of the person we were marching for,” Calvert said.

Staff Writer Cortney Casey contributed to this report.