CINCINNATI — Needling his top Republican adversaries on their turf, President Barack Obama stood in the shadow of an outdated and heavily used Ohio River bridge Thursday and called his rivals out by name to demand action on his $447 billion jobs bill.
Making a point to choose a bridge linking House Speaker John Boehner’s home state of Ohio with Kentucky, the home of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Obama struck a cheeky tone that underscored the politics of the moment.
“Mr. Boehner, Mr. McConnell, help us rebuild this bridge,” he declared. “Help us rebuild America. Help us put construction workers back to work. Pass this bill.”
The president’s incursion into northern Kentucky and southern Ohio is one of his most direct and defiant challenges to leaders of the opposition party. And it illustrated a desire by the president’s advisers to distinguish him from Republicans and to get them to share some of the blame for the struggling economy.
Obama said his legislation would put construction workers back to work around the country on projects like the Brent Spence Bridge, but the White House readily conceded that the choice of the aging span south of Cincinnati was symbolic. The bridge is scheduled to be repaired anyway starting in 2015.
