Published: February 29, 2012
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CloseDiggRedditTumblrPermalink Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum fought
each other to nearly a draw in the Michigan primary and may actually
have to split its delegates, but together they may have lost Michigan
for their party by running campaigns that were completely disconnected
from the lives of middle-class voters and pushed ever farther to the
right margins of American politics.
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A month ago, the state was rated a tossup in this November's general
election. But after voters got a taste of the Republican field,
Michigan seems to be on President Obama's side of the ledger, along
with Wisconsin. Both elected Republican governors in 2010, but large
numbers of blue-collar voters have turned away from the party after
realizing how little regard it has for their interests.
Mr. Romney was unable to generate any enthusiasm in the state where he
was born and where his family is well known. In fact, polls around the
country have suggested that Republican primary voters are not thrilled
with any of their choices so far. He won largely because of Mr.
Santorum's blunders, including his inexplicable decision to denigrate
the value of college and to declare his contempt for John F. Kennedy
and the Constitution's mandate for an absolute separation of church
and state.
Mr. Romney's victory speech Tuesday night was unlikely to do much
about the Republican electorate's disappointment. Like his lightweight
stump speeches around Michigan, he rattled off a long list of things
he opposes: taxes (mostly on the rich), government spending (mostly on
the poor), health care reform (for everyone). There was next to
nothing about what he supports, with the exception of the Keystone XL
oil pipeline. A blue-collar family that has suffered a job loss (or
fears one) heard nothing that offered the promise of a more stable,
hopeful future.
"We will abolish, finally, the death tax," he announced. That's great
news to those with estates of $5 million or more. It was a slap in the
face to those whose unemployment insurance is about to run out because
his party has insisted on getting tough with jobless government
freeloaders.
Middle-class voters did learn that Mr. Romney still opposes the
auto-industry bailout that has saved the jobs of more than a million
workers in Michigan and the region. (He called it a giveaway to
unions, ignoring worker sacrifices that are well-known in the upper
Midwest.) They learned how the 14 percent of Michigan residents who
have no health insurance would be left on their own once the
candidates get a chance to repeal health care reform. And they learned
that Mr. Santorum is far more concerned about the menace of birth
control and liberal college professors than he is about their
struggles.
If they listened to Mr. Obama's fiery speech to the United Auto
Workers on Tuesday, however, they heard a very different set of
priorities: using government action to bring an entire industry back
to life, raising taxes on the rich to avoid cutting programs for the
poor, keeping insurance companies from cutting off the sick.
"Since when are hard-working men and women who are putting in a hard
day's work every day — since when are they special interests?" the
president asked, addressing the contempt for labor demonstrated by the
candidates and several Republican governors in the Midwest. The answer
explains why Mr. Obama was up by 18 points over Mr. Romney in a recent
Michigan poll, and why Republican leaders are worried about their
presidential field.
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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