One unemployed worker in a key swing state hopes that President Obama will show himself to be more of a “fighter” tonight and propose a package of direct government spending on jobs, instead of  “accommodating”   Republicans.

“If I were Barack Obama, what I would do right now is go into the Mon Valley of Pittsburgh, where there was once a steel mill, and open up a steel mill myself just to put people back to work,” said Jim Bonner, 32 , of Pittsburgh. “Direct government spending to hire people, to get people working again, that’s what has to happen.”

Bonner, who lost his job as an Allegheny County bus driver in the midst of service cuts in April, says he often encounters discrimination against those now out of work.

“A lot of places will say  ’Unemployed need not apply’ or ‘If you don’t have five or six years’ experience, please don’t apply here,’” Bonner says.

Bonner, a Democrat with a college degree, will be watching to see how strong   Obama shows himself to be.

“I think he’s a very sincere person, but I don’t see him as being very much of a fighter. President Clinton had that ability to fight, but this man [Obama] is a lot more laid back. He’s a lot more accommodating,” Bonner said.

“When you have millions of people out of work, you can’t be accommodating. You have to be the warrior. You have to be the leader saying, ‘This is how we’re going to do this.’”