19 | April | 2012 | The Obama Diary

President Obama sits on the famed Rosa Parks bus at the Henry Ford Museum following an event in Dearborn, Mich., April 18 (Pete Souza)

“I just sat in there for a moment and pondered the courage and tenacity that is part of our very recent history but is also part of that long line of folks who sometimes are nameless, oftentimes didn’t make the history books, but who constantly insisted on their dignity, their share of the American dream.”

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Detroit Free Press: The good economic news has been stacking up for Michigan.

On Wednesday, the state reported that the unemployment rate fell to 8.5% for March, a level not seen since August 2008 and down 2 percentage points from a year ago. The jobless rate in metro Detroit fell to 9.4%, down 2.3 percentage points from a year ago.

…. And a PNC Bank survey of small companies in Michigan found that 35% plan to hire full-time or part-time employees sometime in the next six months …. worker rolls have increased across various industries, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting 22,000 more workers in southeast Michigan this year than last year.

…. That increase in workers is partly responsible for a first-quarter, 47% increase in housing starts in southeast Michigan when compared with the same three months last year….

More here

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Today:

2:20: PBO welcomes the BCS National Champion University of Alabama Crimson Tide to the White House to honor their 14th championship

4:20: PBO attends a campaign event in DC (closed press)

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National Journal: A big lead among women voters is fueling a slight advantage for President Obama in the early phase of his contest with likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney, according to a poll published Thursday morning by Quinnipiac University.

In line with other national polls published this week, the new Quinnipiac poll showed Obama with a narrow lead over Romney, in this case, 46 percent to 42 percent. Among women, Obama’s enjoys a yawning lead of 49 to 39 percent….

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Cagle

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ThinkProgress: As part of his attempt to appear more relateable, presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney sat with a handful of regular, working Americans in Pennsylvania today to discuss their plight in the struggling economy. But the Romney campaign may not have vetted the attendees to make sure they were sufficiently anti-tax before giving them access to the candidate and his picnic table full of lemonade and pretzels.

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Cagle

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Charles Pierce: Things In Politico That Make Me Want To Guzzle Antifreeze, Part The MCLIV

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Business Insider: Despite the ground Mitt Romney has gained in recent polls, he will be in the record books for a statistic he would probably rather forget.

Romney is the least likable presidential candidate in 30 years, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll. Since Walter Mondale. And he is the first candidate ever that more people view unfavorably than favorably.

More here

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