KANSAS CITY – Barack Obama brought the convention-week vitality of his campaign to a place whose worker base might diminish before a new president takes office.

Two days before accepting the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, Mr. Obama outlined for American Airlines workers a plan to revive the U.S. economy.

In the process, the Illinois senator called Republican presumptive nominee John McCain out of touch with the hardships of Americans and promised an agenda that would provide middle-class tax relief, strengthen education and make health care more accessible.

The Democrat said the federal government could afford such an aggressive program by bringing home the billions of American dollars spent each month in Iraq.

“U.S. taxpayers are rebuilding Iraq,” he said. “We need U.S. taxpayers rebuilding America and putting people back to work.”

On the way to Denver, where the Democratic National Convention will make him their standard bearer, Mr. Obama spoke to about 350 people at the airline’s overhaul base on the edge of Kansas City International Airport.

The base, which employed about 2,200 people five years ago, now has half that number of workers. American announced this month it might trim up to 600 more jobs.

Mr. Obama ran through a list of the nation’s economic woes, including new statistics showing more than 800,000 additional people fell below the poverty line in 2007, a half-million of them children.

Under the Bush administration, he said, the number of people without health insurance rose by 7 million, and the nation lamented more home foreclosures than at any time since the Great Depression. In addition, fuel prices have risen and more jobs have departed the United States for points abroad.

“You’d think that both parties would be scrambling to try to figure out how to move in a new direction. But that’s not what John McCain says,” Mr. Obama told the crowd, which sat in the cavernous hangar, a 767 jetliner in the background.

The Democrat recited Mr. McCain’s assessment of the economy as fundamentally sound and mentioned the Arizona senator’s recent gaffe about the number of homes he owns.

“If you don’t know how many houses you have,” Mr. Obama said, “no wonder you think we’re making great progress economically.”

He added of the Republican, “I don’t think John McCain says these things because he’s a bad person. I just don’t think he gets it.”

Kay Barnes, seeking the 6th District congressional seat, attended the speech and got a shout-out from Mr. Obama, who praised her leadership in a 2003 negotiation that resulted in a long-term lease that saved jobs at the overhaul facility.

“She has always been looking out for working families all throughout Kansas City,” the senator said. “She’s no longer the mayor, but she’ll soon be the congresswoman from the 6th Congressional District.”

At the invitation-only gathering, some Buchanan County residents managed to score tickets. Karen Planalp and her son Rexie, who chairs Missouri Kids for Obama, rose at 5 a.m. to get to the event early. They scored front-row seats and handshakes from the candidate.

Mr. Obama’s plans for education, including increased salaries for teachers and paid college tuition in exchange for a national service commitment by students, impressed the St. Joseph woman.

“We cannot compete on a global level if we don’t educate our children,” she said after the speech.

David Lichliter, also from St. Joseph, liked what the senator had to say about protecting working people.

“We need to enforce our labor laws that are on the books and get stronger labor laws,” he said.

Bill Caldwell, Buchanan County Democratic chairman, had a special connection to the event, having worked for years at the overhaul base. The Transport Workers Union, to which he belongs, has endorsed the Obama candidacy.

“I’m on board,” he said of the senator. “There was nothing I heard that I didn’t like.”

Ken Newton can be reached at kenn@npgco.com.