Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack returned to his native Pittsburgh over the weekend, this time in his new role as a campaigner for presidential candidate John Kerry.

While Kerry and running mate John Edwards are trying to fire up the Democratic Party faithful at large rallies, Vilsack is leading sedate and serious discussions, like yesterday's by-invitation-only roundtable at a job training center.

After holding an hourlong discussion with about 20 people in the conference room of the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, Vilsack said, "The reason for this is for people to understand that there is true substance to the Kerry campaign."

It may not be the type of rallying cry that spurs the troops to storm the gates, but it's a message that targets thinking voters -- and that reflects Vilsack's Midwestern, unornamented mien.

In the race to the middle that defines contemporary presidential politics, Vilsack wants to help set the pace.

"I think it's important to empower the moderates in this country," he said during yesterday's roundtable. "Problem-solving in this country rarely occurs on the fringe."

For yesterday's event, Kerry's campaign assembled a group that included representatives of labor, finance, education, party politics, big business and small business.

"I'm here primarily to listen," Vilsack told them. He then proceeded to do most of the talking, much of it about the deficit.

"I guarantee you, if we continue to have record deficits, as we have now, interest rates are going to go up and entrepreneurial opportunities will be reduced," he said.

Kerry pledges that his budget plan will halve the deficit, which is projected to exceed $420 billion this year.

Allegheny County Labor Council President Jack Shea, one of the participants, lamented that rising health care costs are forcing union members to pay higher health insurance premiums.

Vilsack responded by plugging Kerry's health care plan, under which the federal government would reimburse businesses for up to 75 percent of the costs of catastrophic care, leading, at least theoretically, to a reduction in premiums.

"I think it's a very significant step and, most of all, it's doable," Vilsack said.

President Bush's campaign has criticized the Kerry plan as a mere shift of health care costs from businesses to taxpayers.

The event's host, Manchester Craftsmen's Guild President Bill Strickland, turned the discussion to job training.

"There has to be a partnership between labor and management and educators," Strickland said.

"We can all leave because you just said the single most important thing we're going to hear today," Vilsack replied. "Educators don't know what they need to know to create a relevant curriculum [for future job seekers]."

Presumably, Vilsack, 53, will be a job seeker himself in a couple of years, when his term as governor expires. The Squirrel Hill native could end up leaving office even sooner, though, if Kerry wins and offers him a Cabinet appointment.

When asked yesterday if such a possibility exists, Vilsack didn't exactly deny it.

"One thing I've learned is to focus on the job I have," he said. "I don't think about jobs in the future."

Perhaps his most important job this fall will be to deliver Iowa, and its seven electoral votes, to Kerry.

Iowa, like Pennsylvania, is up for grabs.

The race in his state, Vilsack said, "is as close as fuzz on a tick's ear."

Then he left for Harrisburg, to lead another serious discussion.