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Obama promises to fight for new jobs

Town hall meeting in struggling Ohio city renews focus on economy

By Tom Raum and Philip Elliott • ASSOCIATED PRESS • January 23, 2010

ELYRIA, Ohio — President Barack Obama tried to revive his battered agenda and rally despondent Democrats on Friday with a renewed emphasis on jobs. His visit to this struggling Rust Belt city capped a tough first-anniversary week for a presidency that suffered jolts at the hands of Massachusetts voters and the Supreme Court.

"I'm not going to win every round," Obama told a town hall audience. But, striking a populist tone on a campaign-style swing, Obama pledged, "I can promise you there will be more fights in the days ahead."

He used the word "fight" or some variation more than a dozen times as he tried out a revamped message focused mainly on the economy, part of a stepped-up effort to convince Americans he's doing all he can to create jobs.

"This isn't about me. This is about you," he said.

And while he has recently voiced a willingness to find common ground in the divisive health-care debate, he insisted he was not ready to abandon the cause or to drop his environmental and energy agenda even with the strengthened GOP hand in the Senate.

"There are things that have to be done," he said. "And that means marching forward, not standing still." He acknowledged "we had a little bit of a buzz saw" on health-care overhaul.

Instead of the anniversary celebration Obama might have expected, the week was one of the worst in recent times for the White House, with much hand-wringing and blame-casting among dazed Democrats in the halls of Congress.

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