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Jobs A Major Plank In Illinois Candidate For U.S. Senate's Platform Obama's Family Vacation Is Tour de Campaign Trail by David Grimes for The Quill The Hancock-Henderson Quill, IL ... Aug 04, 2004 OQUAWKA - Barack Obama, Democratic contender for the U.S. Senate, spoke Saturday on the stoop of the Oquawka Museum where one display - a clamshell button-cutting machine - recalled a time when button cutting served as a vibrant part of the local economy in the early to mid-20th Century. And it was fitting. When plastic buttons began to be mass-produced in the 1950s, clamshell workers up and down the Mississippi, including at Oquawka, found themselves out of work in a matter of months. Obama, fresh from delivering the keynote address at his party's national convention in Boston Tuesday night, has carefully placed domestic jobs as a plank in his platform. Running unopposed since Republican Senate candidate Jack Ryan dropped out of the race amid tawdry sex allegations, Obama will discover his new opponent on Tuesday, when the Illinois GOP has said it will announce a replacement candidate. Other speaking engagements Saturday for the Chicago-based senator included stops at Monmouth College earlier in the day and two stops in the Quad Cities later in the evening. The former civil rights attorney and professor at the University of Chicago law school told an enthusiastic crowd of about 200 that while the Bush administration is pointing out an increase in newly created jobs, it doesn't mean those jobs are of equal quality to those being lost locally and nationwide. Losing a job that pays $25 an hour plus benefits can't be replaced with a job that pays $7 an hour and offers no benefits. "It doesn't mean the same thing," Obama said. Sam Bigger, who lives near Stronghurst and is a warehouse worker at the Maytag plant in Galesburg, Ill., couldn't agree more. Production at the Maytag site will end next month, 1 1/2 years before Bigger planned to retire after 30 years at the facility. Production jobs have been moved to Mexico and plans are for the company's regional distribution center to move to North Liberty, 40 miles west of the Quad Cities. Workers at Maytag were notified that their jobs were coming to an end in October 2002, but were not offered the option of relocating within the company. And that, Bigger believes, is an indication of a company doing business with a mind for profit and no sense of responsibility for its workforce. "It's not the same as if we were working at John Deere or JI Case," Bigger said. One of 84 workers who will linger at Maytag until next February, Bigger said he has enrolled in welding school but still has no guarantee of work when he finishes. If a job in welding can't be found, Bigger said he probably will do what most unemployed Americans are currently doing - scramble for what few $8 to $10 production jobs remain, benefits or not. The logic behind sending American jobs overseas and relaxing trade agreement rulings seems to baffle Obama. "What knuckleheads thought of that?" he asked rhetorically. But the rhetoric softened when Obama followed with, "We still think we can convince them to create jobs here." Obama's entourage included Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., state Sen. John Sullivan, D- Rushville, and Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill. Evans and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry were lauded for their military service records and Evans took the opportunity to set the record straight regarding those who believe he's not fit to continue in public service because of the effects of Parkinson's Disease, which he has dealt with for several years. "I may be slow," Evans acknowledged, "but I know which direction I'm going." Evans told the crowd he considered them to be the heart and soul of the Democratic party and concluded his remarks by letting the party faithful know he has no intention of abandoning them or their ideals. "I'd rather have FDR in a wheelchair than Ronald Reagan on a horse," he said. Obama credited Evans with being one of the first in his party to encourage and support him in his run for the U. S. Senate. Speaking about his address at the Democratic National Convention, Obama also gave credit to the crowd for his success. "I was telling your stories," he said. "Those weren't my stories. "I was telling your stories ... of people struggling to pass on a better life for your children." On the heels of the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama headed out Saturday for a five day tour through downstate Illinois with his family and with US Senator Dick Durbin joining him on Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. Obama writes on his web site that he and his family hit the road to meet in downstate communities and visit some of Illinois' beautiful attractions. Obama began his "family vacation" on Saturday July 31 and ended the trip on his birthday today, August 4 with a barbeque party. The tour kicked off Saturday in Ottawa, followed by stops in Granville, DePue, Kewanee, Monmouth, Oquawka, and Moline. Sunday began in DeKalb, before moving on to Marengo, Belvidere, Sinnissippi Park, Rockford, Freeport , Galena and finished up in Mount Carroll. Monday Barack visited Rock Falls, Dixon, Rochelle, Lacon, Pekin, Bloomington, Clinton, Danville and Champaign. Sam Bigger, RR Stronghurst, Delbert and Carmen Thompson Oquawka and other Maytag employees came to greet U.S. Senate hopeful. SOURCE: The Hancock-Henderson Quill, IL ... Aug 04, 2004 http://www.quillnewspaper.com/thisweek/a0404a1.html (There are several excellent photos on this site ... murray) * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn