home > by publication type > daily analysis > Michigan, Choosing Romney, Names Economy Job No. 1
Email
| Author: |
|---|
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney speaks to reporters in front of a General Motors plant in Michigan. (AP Images/LM Otero)
Mitt Romney’s Republican primary win (DetroitFreePress) in Michigan set in motion a spree of analysis about the wide-open nature of the party’s presidential campaign. It may also feed an intensifying debate in the party’s nominating process over the relative value of economic competence (PostDispatch)—Romney’s self-proclaimed strong suit—and national security credentials, touted by supporters of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) as his strong suit.
Romney called his victory over McCain, the first after second-place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, “a victory of optimism over Washington-style pessimism” (CBS). McCain told Michigan voters that jobs in the state’s shrinking manufacturing sector “are not coming back.” Remarking on his second place finish, he defended that as candor (WashPost): “We did what we always try to do: We went to Michigan and told people the truth.”
The contest in Michigan offered contrasting approaches to lifting a struggling state once rich in auto manufacturing jobs into a stronger position in the global economy. Romney, a successful private businessman and former Massachusetts governor, campaigned as a champion of Detroit’s beleaguered auto industry. He decried new fuel economy standards passed by Congress that he said would weigh even more heavily on the state. Romney said in a January 14 speech that as president he would “personally bring together industry, labor, Congressional and state leaders and together we will develop a plan to rebuild America’s automotive leadership.”
McCain, who supported the tougher fuel standards, retorted that the industry can not only meet the new standards but exceed them. He emphasized retraining to help keep Americans competitive in the global economy (WashPost). “To compete more successfully in it, we must better prepare American workers and students to seize its opportunities,” he said.
But exit polling showed Romney inspired more confidence in Michigan, a state with 7.4 percent unemployment. More than half of Michigan’s GOP primary voters said the economy was the most important issue, well above the level with those sentiments in Iowa and New Hampshire, and of that number in Michigan a strong majority favored Romney. Of three other choices pollsters gave voters, less than 20 percent said Iraq was the most important issue, and fewer voters cited immigration and terrorism as the country’s most important issues (AP).
Michigan’s Democratic primary was of less immediate importance: All of the major candidates except for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) withdrew their names from the ballot after the party punished Michigan for moving up its primary date without party authorization. Clinton polled about 55 percent of the vote but its unclear whether the state’s delegates will figure in the party’s nominating process (CQ). As returns came in, Clinton and her main challengers, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), and John Edwards took part in a debate in Nevada in which economic and energy issues figured heavily. The candidates united in opposition to the opening of a nearly complete nuclear-storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, seen as an important step in triggering nuclear energy expansion in the United States. On nuclear power (Bloomberg) itself, Obama appeared to be most supportive of its use as an energy source.
As voting moves to separate party contests in South Carolina and Nevada this weekend, Michigan could be the touchstone for more feverish campaigning on economic issues. Gas prices this January in Michigan averaged ninety-two cents higher than in January of last year, according to one study. With the highest unemployment rate in the country, soaring foreclosure rates, and the state economy in the doldrums, Michigan voters had been expected to send out what the Detroit News calls “an economic SOS.”
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
The report of this bipartisan Task Force of distinguished leaders and experts represents a strong consensus on the importance of repairing America's immigration policy. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way.
This report finds that nuclear weapons will remain a fundamental element of U.S. national security in the near term, and makes recommendations on how to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. deterrent nuclear force, prevent nuclear terrorism, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR
Complete list of Task Force reports
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
To request permission to reprint or reuse CFR material, please fill out this permissions request form (PDF), referring to the instructions on page 1.
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.