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John McCain's withdrawal from Michigan means the state is abandoned once again

Submitted by Chad on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 4:03pm.

UPDATE: At least one person agrees with me that Michigan should get more attention. But who knew that person was Sarah Palin? The Alaska governor sent an e-mail to the McCain campaign that "Todd and I would [be] happy to get to Michigan and walk through those plants [with] car manufacturers." Gov. Palin found out about the Michigan strategy from a reporter, not from the campaign.

Is Michigan a good bellwether state? Not counting the uncertainty of the last two elections (MI went for Gore and Kerry), the last time the state voted against the presidential winner was 1976 when favorite son Gerald Ford lost to Jimmy Carter. Before that, 1968 was when Michigan went from Vice President Hubert Humphrey instead of Richard Nixon.

And John McCain, already in a tough fight, has given up on Michigan. Pulled staff, pulled ads - the whole ball of wax.

McCain's troubles started in Michigan when he noted in the primaries that "some of the jobs that have left the state of Michigan are not coming back." In 2000, McCain won the Michigan primary, even though he was already pretty much out of the race. In 2008, Mitt Romney, whose father was Michigan's governor, won the primary.

Not that McCain didn't try in Michigan. His campaign ran a deceptive ad, blaming Barack Obama for the loss of jobs in Michigan.

The loss of jobs in the auto industry -- is a multi-complicated issue. But losses in the state have been more severe under Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush than under Bill Clinton.

Michigan is more than just the auto industry. There have been lost manufacturing jobs at many points around the state. Tourism is huge, but people are doing less traveling due to financial problems and the rising cost of gas.

I do have a bias toward the state -- grew up there and spent a couple of post-college years there. It is a state that has seen hard times, and only ends up in the spotlight when there's crime (Detroit, Flint) or corruption (Detroit) or sad news about the auto industry.

Presidential years force some attention to the Great Lakes State (four of the five Great Lakes touch Michigan), but with McCain leaving with more than 30 days to go in the race and two key debates remaining, the state will once again disappear.

It would be nice for Barack Obama or Joe Biden to spend some time in Michigan, and not just the auto belt and Grand Rapids. Though to be fair, Obama and Biden were in Battle Creek over the Labor Day weekend, speaking at the minor league baseball stadium. I called Battle Creek home for a couple of years; it was where I saw Bill Clinton speak in 1992.

Yes, Obama and Biden will do well by the fact that McCain is leaving Michigan. And indirectly, this may help those in Michigan who might see more opportunity under an Obama Administration.

But it's sad for the people in Michigan who might have had more of their voices heard. The people of Michigan often get used and abused by politicians saying, "This time will be different." To be fair, McCain didn't patronize them back in January, though he paid a price. But having McCain, Sarah Palin, Obama, and Biden make more stops in Michigan would have given voters there a chance to feel like those in Washington care about them.

It's bad enough the people felt ignored due to the bizarre path the Democratic Party primary, and to a lesser extent, the Republican Party primary, took in 2008. It's even worse than one of the major party candidates gave up on them with more than a month to go. Michigan deserves better than that.

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sOMeTimeS tHE jOKEs JuST wRitE THemsELVES

Submitted by codypup on Sun, 10/05/2008 - 9:51pm.
McCain/Palin have made themselves the laughingstock of the nation... might as well have them telling "You can tell you're a redneck..." jokes. The APPEAL of McCain is gone, MAVERICKS don't 'herd' together... there is no WE ARE MAVERICKS... you might as well quote the dialogue from the movie AIRHEADS, "We are the Lone Rangers." The old, and getting sickly, candidate has lost his footing. He is NOT seen publicly, when interviewed he shows many of the signs of brain deteriation (once again following in DUBYA's footsteps). The APPEAL of Palin, both of them, are tucked away in her blouse. The FAKE folksie "ya bitch ya" and the winky winky have been shown to be STAGED at best. The TAX RETURNS show that "ms downhome" is worth MILLION$, and that she and the husband that she cheats on BOTH cheat on TAXES. Her vindictive attitude toward coworkers is EVERY WORKING PERSONS' NIGHTMARE, a boss who fires those who disagree with her. NOW they have decided to "take off the gloves", but the media is ON TO THE TRICK (except FUX news, who is no longer MEDIA, just GOP talking points). They have ANNOUNCED that they plan to get dirty. WHO IS STUPID ENOUGH TO ANNOUNCE THAT? We must not have OBAMA join the PIG in the MUD. We can take that hit for him. HE MUST STAY ABOVE THE FRAY AND FOCUS ON THE ISSUES AND THE SOLUTIONS. So... in honor of keeping OBAMA out of the MUD...... please allow ME... +++++HOW MANY ALASKA REPUBLICANS DOES IT TAKE TO SCREW IN A LIGHTBULB ? ... ALASKA REPUBLICANS DON'T SCREW IN LIGHTBULBS, THEY SCREW IN HIGH SCHOOL HOCKY RINK LOCKER ROOMS BECAUSE THEIR MOM DOESN'T BELIEVE IN SEX EDUCATION!!! +++++WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SARAH PALIN AND A PITBULL ? ...IF YOU HAVE SEX WITH ONE, AND YOUR BALLS ARE STILL ATTACHED, THAT WAS A PITBULL +++++WHAT IS JOHN MCCAIN'S FAVORITE GAME ? ...IT WAS ROCK ROCK ROCK, UNTIL THEY INVENTED PAPYRUS AND SCISSORS +++++HOW DOES JOHN MCCAIN KNOW WHAT JESUS WOULD DO ? ...THEY ATTENDED SCHOOL TOGETHER "Did you see that interview with Katie Couric? Oh, man. Katie Couric asked Sarah Palin what newspapers she reads, and she could not name a single newspaper that she reads. Which wouldn't be so bad if she didn't have a degree in journalism." --Jay Leno "Earlier tonight, they held the vice presidential debate. I understand that Sarah Palin has been preparing all week at John McCain's ranch in Arizona. She said looking out at the desert gave her a real feel for the Middle East." --Jay Leno "According to a recent poll, 61% of people surveyed said they would rather see Sarah Palin in a bikini than Pamela Anderson. Although 99% said they would rather see Pamela Anderson as vice president." --Jay Leno "Have you been watching Sarah Palin's interviews with Katie Couric? Last night, Palin told Katie Couric right here on the 'CBS Evening News' that she can't name a Supreme Court ruling that she disagrees with. The best she could come up with was the time Judge Judy ruled against the landlord. But Sarah Palin did say she objected to several Paula Abdul rulings on 'American Idol.'" --David Letterman "Palin did say there is one decision that she disagrees with. And that was the decision to do the interviews with Katie Couric." --David Letterman "How about that debate earlier tonight, huh? Is it just me, or whenever Sarah Palin was asked a question, there's a long pause. You know, like when you have a foreign correspondent and the satellite delay." --David Letterman
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