DUNLAP — Speaking to a crowd of more than 2,000 gathered at Concord High School, President Barack Obama Wednesday touted the improvements made since he last stood on this stage nearly eight years ago.
“America’s economy is not just better than it was eight years ago, it is the strongest, more durable economy in the world,” he said. “…We can make it even stronger and expand opportunity for even more people, but to do that we have to be honest about what our real challenges are and we’ve got to make some smart decisions going forward.”
Approximately 2,075 people packed into Concord High School’s McCuen gym Wednesday afternoon for Obama’s hour-long address that ranged in topic from government spending to immigration and the economy to the upcoming presidential election.
“Now, Elkhart is a good place to have this conversation because as some of you remember this was the first city I visited as president,” Obama said. “… We were just a few months into what turned out to be the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes.”
At the time of his first visit, businesses were losing hundreds of thousands of dollars each month, the auto industry was about to go under and families were losing their savings, their health insurance and homes.
“And Elkhart was hit harder than most,” he said. “Unemployment here would peak at 19.6 percent. That means nearly one in five people here were out of work. I told you then that I was going to have your back and we were going to work hard.”
During his address Wednesday, Obama hailed the growth of Elkhart and the country, citing unemployment rates of 4 percent, an improved graduation rate and increased profits among auto and RV companies.
“So that’s progress and it’s thanks to you and the hard work you put in and the sacrifices you made for your families and the way you look out for each other,” Obama said. “But we also wouldn’t have come this far, Elkhart would not have come this far if we hadn’t made a series of smart decisions.”
Decisions such as helping the auto industry to restructure, helping families refinance their homes and investing in clean energy and infrastructure helped put Americans and local residents back to work, Obama said.
Near the midway point of his speech Wednesday, Obama launched into “myth busting” mode, citing conservative views that deficits are growing, the government is killing jobs through overregulation, that other countries are “killing us on trade” and that immigrants are taking American jobs.
“I understand that not everybody votes based on the economy. Some folks care deeply about our Second Amendment rights, or marriage equality, or a woman’s right to choose. Some vote based on national security, or their worries about terrorism. And that’s fine; those are all issues worthy of debate. But if what you really care about in this election is your pocketbook; if what you’re concerned about is who will look out for the interests of working people and grow the middle class, then the debate isn’t even close,” Obama said in an excerpt from his speech provided to the media prior to Wednesday’s event.
Obama left to a standing ovation, shook hands with spectators before leaving for the Lerner Theatre where he was to participate in an invitation-only town hall meeting to be broadcast at 8 p.m. today on PBS (WNIT).