Obama Tries To Win Over Indiana Steelworkers

CBS - Chicago | May 02, 2008

By Susan Carlson

The Indiana Democratic primary is just days away and Sen. Barack Obama was in Munster Friday trying to sway voters there.

CBS 2's Susan Carlson reports about 300 steel workers gave Obama a rousing welcome at Munster Steel Company. His message was aimed at the working class, struggling in this difficult economy.

"Here in Indiana, we've seen almost 100,000 well-paying manufacturing jobs, vanish," Obama said to the crowd.

His plan to create new jobs includes using $60 billion from the highway trust fund to improve infrastructure.

"Our roads, our bridges... that is the steel that puts people back to work," Obama said.

"I think he's inspiring," said Munster steel worker Fred McCraw.

Winning over the Indiana steelworkers may be crucial to the Obama campaign. Twenty-five percent of the Democratic voters statewide come from this region, in northwest Indiana.

And he told us later, Obama feels a close bond with the people he talked to Friday.

"Working in the shadow of the steel plants just up the road, as a community organizer helping people find jobs after the mills closed, I feel a special connection to this area," he said.

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