LEWISTON – Wearing a “show us the jobs” logo on his jacket, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney denounced the Bush administration’s jobs record Friday, saying the president is replacing well-paid manufacturing work with “Wal-Mart type” jobs.

“We’re experiencing the worst job loss in 75 years,” Sweeney said. And the country’s safety is dropping, too.

As the president of the AFL-CIO, Sweeney represents more than 13 million workers nationwide.

The labor leader was joined in the post-debate visit to Lewiston by Sarah Sewell, a Maine native who served as a deputy assistant secretary of defense during the Clinton administration.

Both Sewell and Sweeney said the Thursday night presidential debate gave voters a chance to see the candidates clearer than ever, side-by-side and juxtaposed.

John Kerry looked presidential, calm and determined to keep America safe, Sewell said.

Meanwhile, President Bush continued his refusal to acknowledge making mistakes, Sweeney said.

“George Bush is too stubborn and too blinded by his arrogance to admit his mistakes,” said the labor leader.

Sweeney and Sewell met with reporters in Lewiston’s Kennedy Park. On Friday morning, Sewell and Rep. Tom Allen held a post-debate press conference in Portland. Another morning meeting was held in Bangor with Maine labor leaders.

According to the Kerry campaign, the aim was to “hold President Bush accountable for his record of failure and his unwillingness to confront the truth in Iraq.”

Sewell, who also worked as a foreign policy adviser to Sen. George Mitchell, continued Kerry’s criticism from the debate that Bush did too little to protect people from the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

“He has looked away from the problem and found Iraq,” she said.

Sweeney echoed the criticism.

“He’s slashing funds for programs that make us safe,” he said.

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