Clinton, Obama woo blue collar workers

TOLEDO, Ohio, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were campaigning in Ohio, trying to appeal to the state's blue collar workers.

The Detroit News reported Tuesday that the candidates have highlighted what they call lopsided international trade deals, the decline of manufacturing jobs and the home foreclosure crisis that has wracked the Buckeye State.

Ohio holds its primary on March 4.

Bill Burges, a longtime Democratic campaign strategist in Ohio, said both candidates "have moved to a working, or semi-working, or used-to-be-working-class appeal."

International trade has emerged as one of the hottest topics in Ohio, where about 224,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost since 2001, the newspaper reported.

For her part, Clinton has vowed to enact a "timeout" on trade deals and to explore changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was finalized when her husband was president.

Obama too has said it is time to relook at NAFTA.

"If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that we can't stop globalization in its tracks and that some of these jobs aren't coming back," Obama recently told an audience of workers in Ohio.