CHICAGO – Barack Obama met with Gov. Ted Strickland and other Democratic governors this morning to discuss the economy and to show party unity after a bruising presidential primary fight in which Strickland and several other key state chief executives backed Hillary Clinton.

The meeting, held at the Chicago History Museum, allowed governors from 16 states to make pitches for needs in their states. Obama promised he would work with states as president to help address their problems more than the federal government has under President Bush.

“In the end, what you need is a partner in Washington who understands your people,” Obama told the governors, seated around a table with their state flags behind them.

Strickland told Obama that Ohio has suffered a spate of between 10,000 and 12,000 announced job cuts during the past week, from cutbacks at a DHL hub near Wilmington, the planned closing of the General Motors SUV plant in Moraine and reductions at Continental Airlines’ hub in Cleveland.

“There’s a lot of pain, economic pain, in America today, and that pain is severe in Ohio,” Strickland told Obama.

The Buckeye State has lost 212,500 jobs since Bush took office, and the state announced today that even though Ohio added 9,200 jobs in May, its unemployment rate shot up to 6.3 percent from 5.6 percent in April as a result of more workers resuming job searches.

Only Michigan’s economy is worse, and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said her state has lost 400,000 manufacturing jobs since 2000.

The governors touched on a number of issues from health care, education and immigration but focused heavily on the need to invest in alternative energy with sky-high gas prices and the need for more money for roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell estimated that his state’s infrastructure needs alone are $80 billion.

Obama is proposing a $60 billion national infrastructure bank as well as another economic stimulus package of $50 billion that would include a second round of rebate checks for consumers and $10 billion for states such as Ohio that have been hammered by the housing foreclosure crisis.

During the forum, Obama complimented Strickland for his efforts to crack down on subprime lenders and help consumers facing foreclosure.

Yesterday’s event came during the last week of Obama’s “Change that Matters” tour focusing on the economy, promising middle-class tax cuts and other assistance.

John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, and other Republicans have portrayed Obama’s plans as bad for state and national economies by raising taxes in a range of areas from capital gains to coal.

“When an economy is hurting, you don't raise taxes on people – particularly you don't raise taxes on the people who create jobs and small businesses,” said Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive at Hewlett-Packard and a key McCain supporter, said in an interview in Columbus last week.

Strickland endorsed Clinton last November and campaigned aggressively for her in several states, helping her easily carry Ohio by winning 83 of the state’s 88 counties.

Now that Obama is the presumptive nominee, Strickland is supporting him and vowed during Obama’s visit to Columbus last week to help the Illinois senator win the critical Buckeye State and capture the White House.

Besides Strickland, there were eight other Democratic governors attending today’s event who backed Clinton in the primary, including Granholm and Rendell.

There were seven governors who supported Obama in the primary, including Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the daughter of former Ohio Gov. John J. Gilligan who is mentioned as a possible running mate for Obama. She is scheduled to speak Saturday night at the Ohio Democratic Party’s state dinner in Columbus.

Strickland was surrounded by Chicago and national reporters after today’s event who wanted to know whether he’s really not interested in running for vice president and how he expects to make the pitch for Obama in Ohio after campaigning so hard for Clinton.

The governor reiterated that he is not interested in being Obama’s running mate and doesn’t think Obama will ask him. Strickland also argued that it would be easy to campaign for Obama in Ohio because although he respects McCain personally, McCain’s policies would be a continuation of those under Bush.