Obama Takes a Victory Lap in Enemy Territory

President Obama returned to Elkhart, Indiana, Wednesday to spotlight the economic recovery in that city and in the country as a whole. He visited Elkhart several times on the campaign trail in 2008 and it was his first stop as president in February 2009, just weeks after taking office. At the time, the economy -- in Elkhart as everywhere -- was in free fall.

So Wednesday's visit was a bit of a victory lap. Obama wants blue-collar Middle America -- not his core constituency by a long shot -- to admit that his policies, from Obamacare to the stimulus, have helped them get back on their feet. He took credit for bringing Elkhart’s unemployment rate down from a devastating 19.6 percent in 2009 to 4.3 percent today. There are more than twice as many manufacturing jobs in Elkhart now than when he took office.

Obama says that Elkhart tells “the story of America’s recovery,” and he casts himself as the protagonist of that story.

But the people of Elkhart are reading a different story. Here’s one their governor, Republican Mike Pence, wrote just before Obama arrived in his state: “I believe the people of Elkhart and my fellow Hoosiers have brought our economy back in spite of the burdens that higher taxes, mandates and increasing regulations from Washington, D.C. have placed on them,” Pence wrote Wednesday in the Elkhart Truth.

Obama lost Elkhart to Mitt Romney by 10 points in 2012. That same year, Pence won the governor’s race with a 19-point margin over his Democratic opponent.

Sam Stein reported in the Huffington Post Wednesday that even people in Elkhart whose businesses got direct assistance from Obama’s stimulus package denied getting help from the program.

Twelve years ago, journalist Thomas Frank wrote, “What’s the Matter With Kansas?”, asking why blue-collar workers vote “against their own economic interests” for Republicans more beholden to Wall Street elites than the working class. Obama wants to know what’s the matter with Elkhart. “I know I don’t poll all that well in this county,” he said to laughter from the audience. But clearly doesn't understand why.

He came to Elkhart not just to brag a little or to try to cement his legacy, but to stage an “intervention,” as he called it. If working-class people like those in Elkhart vote Republican in November, Obama says they'll be voting for an economic plan designed to hurt them.

He cited Donald Trump’s tax plan, which, he said, “would give the top one-tenth of 1 percent -- not the top 1 percent, the top one-tenth of 1 percent -- a bigger tax cut than the 120 million American households at the bottom.”

“That is not going to make your lives better,” Obama said. “That will help people like [Trump].”

“Not everybody votes based on their economic interests,” Obama went on, echoing Thomas Frank. He acknowledged that some people might find it hard to vote for Democrats because of their views on social issues like gun rights, same-sex marriage, or abortion. But, he said, “if what you care about in this election is your pocketbook,” they need to rethink their support for Republicans.

Obama never mentioned either candidate by name, but it was clear which one he thought would create more jobs and a stronger safety net -- and which he thought would bring lower wages, kick people off health insurance, eliminate worker protections, cut investments in education, and let big banks write their own rules.

“I know it sounds like a strange agenda for politicians who are claiming to care about you and working families,” he said. “But don’t think that this agenda is going to help you. It’s not designed to help you.”

Aside from the social issues where Obama – or Hillary Clinton – simply won’t find common cause with conservatives, he had to acknowledge some other unfinished business of his presidency: preparing workers for the 21st century workforce and shoring up for Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare, for example. He admitted that “wages are still growing too slowly, and that makes it harder to pay for college or save for retirement.” He blamed Congress for some of these problems, saying they’ve “opposed pretty much everything that we’ve tried to do.”

Did he convince the people of Elkhart? Even among the most friendly crowd at Concord Community High School, the applause was more tepid than you’d expect from most Obama rallies. His attack on “right-wing radio” hosts and “cable news” anchors who whip up fury at “welfare queens” and “moochers” fell a little flat. Those radio and TV news hosts are probably a lot more popular in Elkhart than he is.

Photo: A more youthful President Obama speaks in Elkhart, Indiana, in 2009. Photo from the White House, via Wikimedia.