With the economy suddenly trumping Iraq as the most potent campaign issue, Mitt Romney vowed Monday to reverse the economic slump in Michigan, where he badly needs to win today’s primary.
“If I am president, I will not rest until Michigan is back,” the Republican presidential candidate told the Detroit Economic Club. “What’s hurting Michigan, if left unchecked, will imperil the entire nation’s economy.”
A CBS/New York Times poll released Monday showed that Americans view the economy as the nation’s “most important problem.” The number of people worried about the economy nearly doubled from a month ago, when the Iraq war was the top concern.
Romney was born in Michigan and grew up watching his father, George, turn around an ailing automaker, American Motors. The elder Romney went on to serve three terms as Michigan’s governor and ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination in 1968.
With Michigan suffering through another automotive downturn, Romney promises to end the “one-state recession.” He is even tailoring his rhetoric to match Michigan’s economic woes.
“You know, where I’ve gone across the country, the issues that come to people’s mind are winning the war against jihadism, illegal immigration, getting down the tax burden,” he told CBS. “In Michigan, it’s three issues: Economy, economy, economy.”
Locked in a virtual tie in Michigan with John McCain, Romney keeps hammering the Arizona senator for asserting that some lost jobs in Michigan will never be recovered.
“The pessimist says that the hundreds of thousands of jobs that have been lost, are lost forever,” Romney told the Economic Club. “The pessimists are wrong.”
McCain has refused to back down about some jobs being lost, telling a Michigan audience Monday: “We will create new jobs.” He also took a shot at Romney during a news conference.
“He said he supports Detroit and yet he wanted to increase taxes on SUVs,” McCain said.
Aside from Romney and McCain, the other serious contender in Michigan’s GOP primary is Mike Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor is eager to contrast his humble roots with Romney’s privileged upbringing.
“I believe most Americans want their next president to remind them of the guy they work with, not the guy who laid them off,” Huckabee says in a TV ad airing in Michigan.
The line worked well for Huckabee in Iowa, where he won the Republican presidential caucuses. Huckabee placed third in the New Hampshire primary behind McCain and Romney.
