22 | April | 2012 | The Obama Diary

Archive for April 22nd, 2012

Apr

‘swing-state unemployment down, obama’s chances up’

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Tags: auto, Barack, car, city, industry, jobs, kansas, michigan, Obama, Ohio, polls, President, star, states, swing

Kansas City Star: The improving economy is swinging the pendulum in President Barack Obama’s favor in the 14 states where the presidential election will likely be decided …. What’s made the difference is that unemployment has dropped more sharply in several swing states than in the nation as a whole. A resurgence in manufacturing is helping the economy – and Obama’s chances – in the industrial Midwestern states of Ohio and Michigan.

…. After an agonizingly slow recovery, several swing-state economies are finally accelerating:

– The job market is improving in Michigan and Ohio. In Michigan, unemployment fell to 8.5 percent in March from 10.5 percent in March 2011. And in Ohio, it dropped to 7.5 percent from 8.8 percent over the same period….

Many blue-collar workers in Ohio and Michigan credit the federal bailout of General Motors and Chrysler for saving tens of thousands of auto industry jobs … “There’s a feeling the administration went out of its way to protect jobs that are very important,” says Paul Allen Beck, a political science professor at Ohio State University…

– Unemployment is down over the past year in the 10 other states the Associated Press identifies as swing states: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin…..

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Chat away, back later

Apr

rise and shine

By Chipsticks 246 Comments

Categories: All Photos and Articles
Tags: Barack, fundraising, hollywood, mitt, Obama, post, President, romney, schedule, toon, washington

Monday: President Obama will deliver remarks at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. The President will also tour the museum with and be introduced by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Also on Monday, the President will present the Commander-in-Chief Trophy to the Air Force Academy football team at the White House.

Tuesday morning: PBO will honor the 2012 National Teacher of the Year and finalists at the White House.

Tuesday afternoon: PBO visits the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Colorado at Boulder to launch an effort to get Congress to prevent interest rates on student loans from doubling in July. PBO will also host an on-the-record conference call with college and university student journalists. He will spend the night in Denver, Colorado.

Wednesday: PBO will visit the University of Iowa. At the event, he will speak with students about the critical need for Congress to act. The President will return to Washington in the evening.

Thursday: PBO will attend meetings at the White House.

Friday: PBO and the First Lady will meet with troops, veterans and military families at Ft. Stewart in Hinesville, Georgia.

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Cagle

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Washington Post: President Obama’s reelection campaign has been rapidly increasing the number of big money “bundlers” collecting checks for his reelection, doubling the number of financiers who have brought in at least $500,000.

The influx during the first quarter of the year shows the president is getting an especially warm embrace from Hollywood and the broader entertainment industry, partly making up for a drop in support from Wall Street after Democrats passed broad new regulations for the financial sector, according to a list of fundraisers released by the campaign on Friday.

…. The Obama campaign has 533 people who have each raised at least $50,000 for his campaign and the Democratic National Committee, including 90 who joined the campaign in the last quarter. The total nearly matches the 558 people who were listed as volunteer fundraisers for the 2008 campaign.

…. The lengthening list of top fundraisers is a sign that bigger donors are coming off the sidelines as the outlines of the race against Romney become clear….

“We’ve had to raise without the same sense of early urgency,” said Andy Spahn, a top fundraiser for Obama in Hollywood. “But the race is coming into focus and the donor community is really starting to step up.”

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