Almost 2,000 steel industry workers, executives, retirees and labor officials came Downtown to hear one thing from the Democratic candidates for president yesterday: How will they staunch the loss of Pennsylvania's manufacturing jobs, particularly to China?

In separate talks to the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a group put together by the United Steelworkers union, both Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama went over plans -- which were very much similar -- to battle Chinese currency manipulation, strengthen and enforce trade agreements with the country, and make sure American children can safely play with Chinese toys.

They even used the same metaphor regarding America's troublesome $9 trillion in debt, much of which is held by China. Mr. Obama said, "It's very hard to argue with your banker" and Mrs. Clinton, "It's very tough to crack down on your banker."

Where the candidates differed was in style. Mrs. Clinton spent almost her entire 30-minute talk rattling off initiatives she would undertake as president, including a new pledge to use the World Trade Organization to challenge China and other trade violators.

Mr. Obama, while also going over some trade promises, gave a more nuanced campaign speech that talked about meeting with laid-off steelworkers while a social worker in Chicago, and admitting he does not oppose all free trade deals.

Though officially nonpartisan and made up of both blue- and white-collar workers, the group was decidedly union and Democratic-friendly. After their talks, USW president Leo Gerard said both candidates seemed "very committed and eloquent" on trade issues. "These are the two best Democratic candidates I've seen in my adult lifetime," he said.

Mr. Gerard and others have previously pressed the candidates for more details on their trade plans, some worrying that if they are elected they will not follow through on promises.

The candidates were "very specific on trade laws," said Pat Hassey president, chairman and chief executive officer of Allegheny Technologies. "They were very specific about supporting manufacturing with policy, very specific about support of American manufacturing as an essential to a strong nation, economy and military. I'm 100 percent with that belief," he said.

Mr. Obama went first, recounting his opposition to NAFTA and non-tariff barriers keeping U.S. cars out of South Korea; strengthening federal union protections via the Employee Free Choice Act; legislation offering tax credits to companies that do not send jobs overseas; investing in the nation's roads and infrastructure; and supporting green energy proposals.

He also admitted it was impossible to save every job. "The truth is, trade is here to stay. We live in a global economy. ... Not every job that has left is coming back." He also took a shot at Mrs. Clinton, after her former chief strategist was found to be supporting a free trade agreement that labor opposes.

"You can't say you are opposed to the Colombia trade deal while your key strategist is working for the Colombian government to get the deal passed. That's what you can't do," he said.

The crowd was so focused on trade issues that when Mrs. Clinton began criticizing Mr. Obama for his remarks last week on "bitter" Pennsylvanians turning to guns and religion, it got no rise out of the crowd, and she quickly turned to her trade proposals for the rest of her talk.

Mrs. Clinton noted how she co-founded a manufacturing caucus in the Senate in 2005 and promised to use the U.S. trade representative to fully investigate unfair trading allegations. She called for an intellectual property team to combat international counterfeiting, tax relief for industries losing work to China, and placing a hold on international trade agreements.

She called for President Bush to boycott the Olympic ceremony in Beijing and criticized Mr. Obama for sidestepping the issue. "If you can't stand up to China over an Olympic ceremony, how are you going to stand up to them on trade?"

When a steelworker asked if her anti-NAFTA stance was just rhetoric -- since her husband signed the free trade legislation in 1993 -- she smiled. "As smart as my husband is, he does make mistakes," she said.

The USW endorsed former Sen. John Edwards for president at a Labor Day rally in Pittsburgh last year, and Mr. Gerard said the union's executive board will meet later this week to talk about what it -- and its 7,500 political volunteers -- will do in this campaign.

One thing is for sure: The USW union will not be supporting Republican Sen. John McCain. Though the manufacturing alliance said Mr. McCain was invited to yesterday's session but was unable to attend, Mr. Gerard said he never responded to the invitation.

"McCain didn't even have the courtesy -- you talk about an insult to workers -- of responding. He just ignored it," he said.

According to McCain spokesman Jeff Sadosky, the Arizona senator's campaign did not receive an invitation from the group. Mr. McCain is set to speak about economic and trade issues in Pittsburgh today.