Closed Steel Plant Holds Attention In Presidential Campaign

About two dozen union men and women, supporters of President Obama’s reelection, went to the gates of a closed Kansas City steel plant to attack economic policies of Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney.

The event was promoted by the Democratic National Committee outside the broken-windowed complex once housing GST Steel.  It closed in 1995 after takeover by Romney’s Bain Capital investment firm.  750 jobs went with it.

The jobs loss is the focus of a new attack ad by the campaign team for President Barack Obama.

Former Iowa Governor Chet Culver led the charge outside the  plant.

Former steelworker and Jackson County Democratic Committeeman Jeff Jones personalized it as having worked there, saying, “Mitt Romney needs to explain why he eliminated our jobs, abandoned this community.”  Jones said that Mr. Romney had “ basically robbed our pension plans.”

Romney this week came out with his own ad answering the accusations.  Mr. Romney has said his job was to make money for his investors,  and he did.

The DNC and local political supporters had tried to gather a crowd for the event.  There were only a few members of the electrical and  communications workers unions and a couple of men in sight who said they had been  steelworkers.