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President Obama Rides into Buffalo with Economic Hope

Visit to East Side factory is symbol of path to future recovery

An ebullient President Obama swung through Buffalo on Thursday, telling workers at a local factory — and Americans across the country — that the economy is turning around and likely to get better still in the months and years ahead.

Obama's appearance at Industrial Support Inc., a manufacturer that employs about 70, capped a 3-hour, 15-minute presidential jaunt from the airport to the East Side and back.

• BuffaloNews.com Live: Minute-by-minute review of Obama's visit

• Photo galleries: Arrival at airport • Lunch at Duff's • Industrial Support stop • Bystanders awaiting motorcade

• Video: Waiting for Obama • Air Force One lands • Meeting the president

Obama's visit included a factory tour, a somber meeting with the Flight 3407 families and an unscheduled stop at Duff's Famous Chicken Wings in Cheektowaga — where a Chaffee woman dubbed the president "a hottie with a smokin' little body."

Through it all, the president appeared to be in an extraordinarily good mood — buoyed, perhaps, by the news that the nation gained 290,000 jobs in April, the most in four years.

At a 40-minute meeting with Industrial Support employees and invited guests, Obama said the steps he took soon after taking office — which include a controversial $787 billion stimulus bill — are paying off.

"I want to just say to Buffalo — I want to say to all of you and I want to say to America — we can say beyond a shadow of a doubt, today we are headed in the right direction," he said.

In terms of jobs growth, "this month was better than last month," he said. "Next month is going to be stronger than this month. And next year is going to be better than this year."

He noted, though, that Republicans refused to work with Democrats as they acted to counter an economic crisis that threatened to slide the nation into a depression.

"Frankly, I had one side of the aisle just sit on the sidelines as the crisis unfolded," he said. "And if we had taken that position, just thinking about what was good for my politics, millions more Americans would have lost their jobs and their businesses and their homes."

While things are better now, Obama portrayed the recovery from the deep recession as a work in progress.

Speaking in a city were a billboard proclaims "Mr. President, I need a freakin job," Obama said he often reads letters from Americans who are out of work.

And that, he said, is proof that the government must do even more to create jobs. His proposal to create a $30 billion fund to help small businesses get financing would help, said the president — who prodded Republicans to support him in that effort.

"I'm hopeful that our small business agenda doesn't fall victim to the same partisanship that we've seen over the last year," he said. "Helping businesses to create jobs should be something that both parties can agree to."

Yet there are hints that the partisanship will continue.

Tweaking the president over the Buffalo visit, Republicans chose Rep. Chris Lee, R-Clarence, to give the GOP response to Obama's weekly radio/Internet address this Saturday.

Among attendees of the event at Industrial Support, there were signs that many feel some discomfort with the president's view of the economy.

"We're at the beginning of the recovery; it's premature to say it's a strong recovery," said Thomas J. Hook, president and chief executive officer of Greatbatch, a local medical technology company.

Hook said it's important for government not to add burdens onto small business just as the economy is starting to grow.

And during the brief question-and-answer session at Industrial Support, one of the questioners echoed Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, who recently said the Obama-backed health care plan represented "the Europeanization of America" — which wasn't meant as a compliment.

In response, Obama launched into a detailed explanation of the health bill, capping it by saying: "If you don't have health insurance, we're building off the free market, off the existing system of private employer-based insurance, and we're saying this is going to give you a chance to get health insurance that's a little bit cheaper.

"I don't know what that's called; I just think it's a good idea."

Another attendee asked Obama about replacing the American system of progressive tax rates with "a flat tax that's equitable for everyone."

In response, the president said: "In order to have a flat tax that was revenue-neutral, that didn't add to the deficit, it'd have to be a pretty substantial tax, but it would mean a huge tax break for Warren Buffett," the legendary investor who founded Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which owns The Buffalo News.

Obama took only four questions from the audience at Industrial Support, giving wordy and wonky answers to each.

The event started 37 minutes late, partly because Obama's plane landed at 12:35 p.m. rather than at the 12:25 as scheduled, partly because of the unscheduled stop at Duff's, and partly because Obama seemed to so enjoy his tour of the Industrial Support factory floor.

He spent several minutes at each of several stops along the way, and seemed fascinated with the company's gadgets.

As workers demonstrated a bottle rocket that shot empty Pepsi bottles across the factory floor, the president said: "I never had this stuff in science class."

When other workers showed him a series of ball bearings moving deftly along a track for reasons that could not be determined, a worker said: "That's like your jump shot, right?" To which the basketball-loving president said with a grin: "It goes in every time."

Most notably of all, Obama had some fun at the expense of Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times.

Obama urged the diminutive reporter to board a mysterious circular hovercraft-like device the company makes for some mysterious purpose. And he seemed to greatly enjoy watching Stolberg slide across the factory floor.

"It's a levitator. It's a hovercraft. It's for fun!" Obama said as the cameras rolled. Stolberg didn't seem to enjoy her moment in the spotlight, but Obama consoled her by saying that her kids would enjoy it.

"It's better than covering the Supreme Court," he said.

The president's jocular mood seemed apparent throughout the day, from the moment he jogged down the steps of Air Force One with a broad smile on his face till the time he bounded back up the airplane steps on his way to a Democratic fundraiser in New York City.

But there was one moment where a much more serious mood dominated: during a brief but emotional meeting between the president and 10 people who lost loved ones in the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 in Clarence Center in February 2009.

At the meeting, Kathy Johnston, who lost her husband, Kevin, in the crash, presented the president with a red bracelet honoring the Flight 3407 victims. The president wore it through the rest of the day.

Not long after the meeting with the families, though, Obama's mood lifted as he surprised a crowd of about 100 at Duff's.

Like a politician running for re-election, Obama stopped at every table and shook every had and held a picture-perfect baby for long enough for every photographer to get a shot.

Brian Meyer's audio report on President Obama's visit to Duff's:


Click here to download the audio report and take it with you

• Video: Duff's server on president's order

And when Luann Haley of Chaffee proclaimed the fit, youthful president to be "a hottie with a smokin' little body," Obama laughed and hugged her.

Patrons at Duff's and attendees at the Industrial Support event likewise greeted the president with wide-eyed amazement.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people lined the streets along the motorcade route to try to get a glimpse of the president.

Perhaps because of the rain, a pro-Obama rally near the factory site drew far fewer people than expected, and protests by "tea party" supporters, the Seneca Nation of Indians and other groups were generally small in number.

What wasn't small, though, was the enthusiasm of those who got to see the president — and the enthusiasm of the president himself.

"It was like I was speaking to a good friend I hadn't seen in a long time," said Michael Massucci of Orchard Park, describing his interactions with Obama at Industrial Support, where Massucci is manager of machinery. "He told me that I really care about my work."

And so does the president.

"This company makes me want to double down and work even harder, because I'm absolutely confident that if we continue to take responsibility to invest in our future that our brightest days are still ahead of us," Obama said.

News Staff Reporters Jay Tokasz, Matthew Spina, Stephen T. Watson, Robert J. McCarthy and Deidre Williams contributed to this report.

jzremski@buffnews.com