05/09/2008

By SARAH SKIDMORE  / Associated Press

Sen. Barack Obama told workers at a Beaverton educational software company that he shares America's concerns about the economy.

The senator spoke to workers at Vernier Software & Technology for the first of three scheduled stops in Oregon on Friday.

While pundits may make the country out to be divided, he said, the concerns of Oregonians are shared across the nation. At Vernier, he talked about his plans to tackle key economic issues such as health care costs, the cost of college, taxes and gas prices.

"Americans are working harder for less," he said, and he vowed to eliminate the Bush administration's tax cuts for the wealthy and work to reduce the national deficit.

"I was really encouraged," said Brandon Eltwig, a 28-year-old software engineer at the company. "He's going to turn around what the Bush administration has done."

Obama also discussed his plans for developing the country's investment in education and science, commending Vernier for supporting education and producing the types of workers needs to fuel the U.S. economy.

"Companies like this will be at the cutting edge," Obama told the crowd at the small company.

Obama was joined at the Beaverton stop by his brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, Oregon State's new basketball coach, and by Oregon Rep. David Wu, one of the state's superdelegates who has endorsed him.