Courtesy Obama for America Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama image:40704:8::0

The 28 Democratic governors all received and invitation to meet with presidential hopeful Sen. Obama in a discussion in Chicago this morning. There were 16 in attendance including two who had backed Hillary Clinton, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

The other governors in attendance Dave Freudenthal (WY), John Baldacci (ME), David Paterson (NY), Joe Manchin, III (WV), Ted Strickland (OH), Kathleen Sebelius (KS), Janet Napolitano (AZ), Jim Doyle (WS), Bill Richardson (NM), Martin O'Malley (MD), Christine Gregoire (WA), Jon Corzine (NJ), Mike Easley (NC) and Ted Kulongoski (OR).

Obama was seated at the center of a U-shaped table with the governors on either side of him. Those who were chosen to sit next to Obama were Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle

Even though the meeting was about the economy it was also intended to show the unity that is now present for the Democratic party. Having Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm attend helped to show party unity. Both of their states will be critical battleground states for the elections. They were also seated at the head table with Obama.

In his opening remarks Obama told the governors, "

All of you, as governors, are dealing with these issues day in and day out. You're the ones who see the effects on families in your states each and every day."

Part of the reason Obama said the governors were brought together is he believes the governors require a focus on solutions rather than partisanship.

According to msnbc when Obama was talking about wanting to work closely with the governors during his campaign and during his administration he said,

"I've always been struck by the essential common sense and pragmatism of governors in comparison to some of the stuff that goes on in Washington. You've gotta solve problems; ultimately the buck stops with you. You've gotta balance your budget. If you've got a badly drafted piece of legislation, you're the ones who have to live with it and as a consequence you end up spending less time posturing and trying to score ideological points and more time trying to govern. We need that same approach in Washington."

According to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland when speaking about the loss of jobs in his state and other states,

"We need a president who understands what's happening in America. I believe the current president is totally out of touch."

Some of the other concerns are Joe Manchin, III West Virginia's governor wanting more money to modernize coal technology. Kansas governor, Kathleen Sebelius, wants to have federal partnership on developing wind power.

Gov. Granholm from Michigan wants a trade policy that won’t let foreign countries lure American companies away to set up factories than can operate without environmental or safety standards

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Granholm saying, "

As applied, NAFTA and CAFTA have given us the shafta.”

The Democratic governors are reported as saying they are looking forward to a Democrat in the White House that will work with them. They stated that not any of the previous Democratic presidential nominees had ever sought their input the way Obama’s campaign has.