EAST LANSING, Mich. — Barack Obama said Thursday that his rival, John McCain, is out of touch with the economic struggles of Americans and doesn’t understand that there’s nothing more fundamental than a job.
Obama hammered McCain’s economic record during two rallies in Michigan, a state struggling with the country’s highest unemployment rate.
Obama said the government’s jobs report due today is expected to show a ninth straight month of decline.
“Nine straight months of job loss,” Obama said. “Yet, just the other week, John McCain said the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Well, I don’t know what yardstick Sen. McCain uses, but where I come from, there’s nothing more fundamental than a job.”
Obama has concentrated on winning Michigan, which John Kerry won in 2004 but which McCain made a target this year.
