Obama: Administration stopped economic free fall

PITTSBURGH (AP) — President Barack Obama told the AFL-CIO Tuesday his administration has “stopped our economic free fall” and is determined to seal a recovery while revitalizing America’s middle class.

Shoring up a key part of his political base, Obama told the labor federation’s convention that the administration is a fierce supporter of workers’ rights and defender of unions. He also challenged union members to stand with him on the hard-fought push for an overhaul of the health care system.

“One of the fundamental reasons I ran for president was to stand up for working families,” Obama said on a day designed to appeal to politically active union members.

“When our middle class succeeds, that’s when the United States of America succeeds. That’s what we’re fighting for,” he said.

In a message tailored to workers, Obama praised organized labor figures gathered in Pittsburgh for their role in creating a middle class and for propelling the economy forward during last century. He said the same groups must help push the economy move ahead now.

“I know too many people are still looking for work, worried they’ll be the next one to be let go,” a somber Obama said, nodding to a job market that has shed hundreds of thousands of jobs since he took office.

His appearances were part of Obama’s aggressive new effort to sell his health care overhaul following a speech last week to a joint session of Congress and a slew of interviews and appearances the White House has arranged for him in the coming days.

Earlier in the day, he toured a General Motors plant in Lordstown and claimed credit for an improving economy.

The events were designed to be heavy on working-class appeal in hopes of boosting the White House’s credentials with the segment of the population that played so large a role in his election and is so crucial to his economic agenda.

Obama was to wrap up his daylong trip at a fundraiser for Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter in Philadelphia. He was expected to tell donors that Specter, who earlier this year switched from the GOP to the Democratic Party, is crucial for pushing the White House agenda through.