Obama, Dem governors discuss jobs, economy

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Democratic governors joined U.S. President Barack Obama Friday to talk up his work to help the economy recover as a political strength.

The governors, in Washington for this weekend's National Governors Association conference, pointed to Obama's job-creation efforts in the manufacturing sector, contrary to how Republican presidential candidates represent the economic situation, Politico reported.

"He wants to ensure all across America we don't give up on manufacturing jobs," Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire said. "There was a tendency to go to service jobs and say that's our future. Our future is manufacturing and service."

Gregoire said Obama's recent visit to the Boeing factory in Everett, Wash., offered the perfect economic message that rings better with the voters than a recent visit by GOP hopeful Rick Santorum that focused on his opposition to gay marriage, which she signed into law.

"To those who come to my state: Come visit, come understand before you start talking about some policy that doesn't resonate in Washington state," Gregoire said. "The president came out and talked about manufacturing jobs, visited the Boeing company. That's the right kind of message. If you want to get voters, and you want to inspire, that's what should be done."

Democratic governors also were receptive to Obama's use of executive orders aimed at creating jobs in the absence of any congressional action, The Hill reported.

"There was a sense that none of us should wait, we can't wait for things to happen in Congress," Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, vice chairman of the governors association, told The Hill. "We're going to do what we can do [now]."

Besides building manufacturing, the Democratic governors discussed training workers and increasing American-made energy, themes in Obama's State of the Union address.

"We had a great conversation very focused, not surprisingly, on jobs," Markell said, calling jobs the "biggest issue for all of us in the room, no matter where we come from."

Markell also pointed up the level of bipartisan cooperation among governors, something he told The Hill contrasted with what has "not been a great level of cooperation between members of Congress."

"We don't really care where an idea comes from if it's a good idea," he said.

Governors from both parties meet with Obama Monday.