Sen. Barack Obama with diner Trudy Manderfeld at the Sunrise Cafe in South Bend, Ind., today. (AP Photo by Alex Brandon)
by John McCormick
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Sen. Barack Obama did not want any misunderstandings as his phone rang while posing for a few photos with two waitresses and the owner of the Sunrise Café here.
“That’s my phone buzzing there,” the Illinois Democrat explained, as he leaned in for a picture, touching his leg to one of the older women. “I don’t want you to think I’m getting fresh or anything.”
It was Obama’s first stop today in Indiana, where he is now holding a town hall meeting heavy on an economic message at a high school in Gary.
Earlier, an arts-and-crafts sign behind the counter of the restaurant set the scene, according to the pool report from the event.
“Good Morning,” the sign stated. “Let the Stress Begin.”
Obama’s message was economic stress, as he greeted a dozen or so patrons.
“Looks like the breakfast here is pretty good,” he said, gazing over an order of another man’s biscuits and gravy. Then, he took his pre-arranged seat in a booth with three people.”Would you like some coffee?” a waitress asked the senator.
After pausing for several seconds, he ordered orange juice. No breakfast.
For about 20 minutes, Obama talked with three Hoosiers sitting in the booth: Marvin Kline, 61, of Mishwaka; Lisa Fletcher, 32, of South Bend; Trudy Manderfeld, 60, of Shipshewana. The guests were selected by the campaign.
Kline said he worked at RMG Foundry in nearby Mishwaka until it closed in 2006. After 38 years at the plant, he said, suddenly he was out of work.
“All it is,” Kline said, “is corporate greed – to see how much money you can make off of people.”
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“Where’s the bottom line? When is this going to stop?” he added a few moments later. “Why are we letting the Japanese and the Chinese buy our debt from us?”
Obama sat and listened, nodding in agreement. Obama then criticized the White House for failing to “close the gap between the people who are looking for work and the jobs that exist.”
Then, he heard a similar tale from Manderfeld, who worked at a Bayer plant. She, too, lost her job, when the company closed its doors. The economic downturn and loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector, she said, has shattered lives and devastated the way of life in many communities.
Again, Obama listened intently and asked a few questions. He sympathized with their plight, but warned: “The economy is changing. Not all those jobs are going to come back.” He talked, in broad terms, about proposals to retrain workers and create new opportunities in new fields.
“I’m not guaranteeing that we can turn this around overnight,” Obama said.
“I hope people realize that because of the damage that has been done,” Manderfeld said, “it’s going to take to more than one term to even start to turn it around.”
“Yeah, exactly,” he said with a smile, “I’m looking for two.”
“Are ya?” she said.
“I’m going to start on that first one,” he replied.
(Later, she told reporters that she intended to vote for Obama in the Indiana primary on May 6. “I think they’re both capable, but I think he’s maybe more in tuned with real people,” she said.)
As the conversation began to wrap up, Obama talked briefly with Fletcher, who is a waitress. She said the economic slowdown has affected her, too. “People don’t have the money to come out do a full dining experience,” she said.
“People can’t go out and get a steak diner,” Obama said in agreement.
“Absolutely,” she said.