It would be an understatement to call the Alliance for American Manufacturing disheartened with the political discourse in presidential politics.

Scott Paul, the alliance's executive director, said earlier this year that the group was tracking political debates and, despite the fact that in national polls jobs and the economy have consistently turned up in the top three in the list of national concerns, out of 500 questions asked of the candidates, only two were about the economy.

Tonight the association will sponsor a "town hall" style meeting at the Senator John Heinz Regional History Center to talk about the local economy. The panelists will be Leo Gerard, president of the United Steel Workers; John H. Goodish, the chief operating officer of U.S. Steel; and L. Patrick Hassey, the president of Allegheny Technologies. It will be hosted by John Ratzenberger, who played Cliff on "Cheers" but since has taken on the issue of manufacturing and hosts the show "Made in America" on the Travel Channel.

"Our No. 1 goal is to get the message out that the presidential candidates who want to be our nation's leader should want to strengthen manufacturing," Mr. Paul said.

He said the meeting in Pittsburgh was one of six being held in the country. So far the events have been held in Columbus, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; and Manchester, N.H. Others are scheduled to be held in Buffalo, N.Y.; and South Carolina.

Mr. Paul said that next year, Pennsylvania, always a hotly contested state in elections, will have a chance to influence presidential policy regarding the creation of manufacturing jobs.

The voters, he said, "need to ask them the tough questions."

"We can arm them with information and ideas," he added.

Mr. Paul said he expected the meeting in Pittsburgh to attract a diverse crowd, including steel workers, managers, small-business people and local elected officials.

Manufacturing, he said "is just as important as any debate about Iraq and health care."

"It's about jobs, good jobs and the economy of Western Pennsylvania," he said.

The alliance, he said, is labor and management working together in a nonpartisan way to help influence policies that are hurting Americans. The issues the alliance lists as important include enforcing international trade laws to stop pirating by Chinese companies, and currency manipulation that puts the United States at a disadvantage in trade and health-care issues.

The meeting, which starts at 6:30 p.m., is open to the public.