DaytonDailyNews.com

FAIRBORN — Sen. Barack Obama is not willing to say that if he's elected president he will snap his fingers and fix what ails the Dayton-area economy.

"I'm not promising that we can bring back all the jobs that have been lost here in Ohio," Obama said in an interview with the Dayton Daily News after his Monday, Feb. 25, campaign rally at the Nutter Center.

"What I can promise is that I will work hard to focus on bringing back jobs that pay a good wage and some benefits."

He said he would push for a tax code that encourages investment in the U.S. rather than the off-shoring of jobs and for spending federal money on infrastructure and alternative energy.

He also accused his opponent, fellow Democrat Sen. Hillary Clinton, of taking his words out of context in the latest salvo between the campaigns over the wisdom of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"My record has been absolutely clear," Obama said. "I opposed NAFTA."

Clinton's campaign on Monday released an ad quoting Obama saying good things about NAFTA, which both candidates say has cost Americans jobs and is unfair. Last week, an Obama ad used a quote from Clinton about NAFTA that her campaign said she did not say.

Clinton spokesman Isaac Baker said Clinton's new ad is accurate and that "Ohioans deserve to know the truth about Sen. Obama's record as he continues to launch false and misleading attacks about Sen. Clinton."

Obama, 46, also argued on Monday that, although he is younger than Clinton and Republican candidate Sen. John McCain, he's not any less experienced.

"They've been around Washington longer. (But) I spent my entire adult life working on the issues that we're talking about in this campaign," Obama said. "And I think many of those experiences are more valuable than the experiences that you gain in Washington."

He said he can put together a team that works.

"You know," Obama said, "we started from scratch and so far seem to be doing pretty well against all those experienced folks in managing a campaign."