Villaraigosa: Obama needs to make case directly to public

He likes President Obama’s jobs package, but Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants to see a sales pitch that isn’t aimed solely at Washington politicians.

Villaraigosa, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, was in town Tuesday to press for passage of a substantial jobs package that would cut into the nation’s 9.1% unemployment rate.

He and fellow mayors met with senior White House advisors David Plouffe and Gene Sperling, both of whom are working to pass the $447-billion jobs plan that Obama rolled out early this month.

Villaraigosa, in an interview outside the Senate chamber, said he told them that Obama needs to launch an aggressive road show that takes him out into the country.

“I believe the president HAS to go out to the American people and make the case for the American Jobs Act,” Villaraigosa said. “It’s great to have a press conference in the Rose Garden or before a joint session of Congress. But in a place that’s so poisoned with partisanship, it’s important to go out and speak to and hear from the American people.”

In pushing his jobs package, Obama has split his time between out-of-state trips and Washington appearances.

He unveiled the plan in a speech to a joint session of Congress in the Capitol. And he spoke about the plan again Monday in an appearance in the Rose Garden. But he also touted the plan in a rally in Richmond, Va., the political turf of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. And Thursday, Obama is heading to House Speaker John A. Boehner’s district in Cincinnati to make the case for more spending on roads, bridges and ports.

Villaraigosa said the White House seemed receptive to his message.

“This debate has taken place primarily in Washington,” the mayor said. “It’s time for the president and all of Washington leaders to take the debate to our cities, our towns and our states. Because once they do, they’re going to realize that nobody is talking about the deficit. Everybody is talking about jobs.”

Curbing the deficit is another of Obama’s economic priorities. In his Rose Garden appearance Monday, he announced a plan that would cut $3 trillion from the nation’s deficits over the next 10 years. Over the summer, the deficit debate drowned out Obama’s jobs message. Villaraigosa doesn’t want to see that happen again.

“The No. 1 deficit in the country right now is the jobs deficit,” he said.