Michigan: A Victory For Pandering
The Michigan Republican Primary has been called by several networks for Romney, who currently leads McCain 37% to 31%. This is undeniably a significant victory for Romney, who wins his first genuinely contested primary, and looks as if he'll do so with a few points to spare.
The real victory, unfortunately, is for pandering. McCain was polling ahead of Romney leading up to this week, when both started campaigning on reviving Michigan's stagnant economy.
But they went about it in very different ways. McCain told Michigan voters that the manufacturing jobs they've lost aren't coming back, and that he'd focus on preparing them for the future. Romney dismissed this as pessimism, and said he'd "fight for every job." He said he could get them back.
The problem is, he can't. Manufacturing jobs have been declining in America for over 30 years. It's a macroeconomic trend that transcends Michigan, and transcends this entire political generation. We're not going to be primarily a manufacturing economy anymore; no amount of "fighting" is going to change that.
The only thing that could change it would be special treatment. Romeny would have to serve Michigan some sort of protectionist cocktail to blunt the trend, and even then, it would only be postponing the inevitable.
There are reasons to like Mitt Romney, and reasons not to like John McCain. But this was not a case of a state voting for one candidate's platform. This was the case of a state voting for one candidate's empty promises.
» January 15th, 2008
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