Michigan - A One-Sided Political Battlefield
Now that the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries are behind us, there is still no clear cut leader in either political party. The only narrowing of the field occurred when Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico voluntarily dropped-out of the Democratic race after two fourth-place finishes.
Because the Democratic party put sanctions on Michigan, for holding their primaries earlier than the party wanted, none of the remaining three Democratic candidates is actively campaigning there. Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign is regrouping with all her advisors, to decide what direction to take in all future campaigns and where to place their emphasis. Senator Barack Obama’s campaign strategy is to head to Nevada, where he got a big boost from a major union’s endorsement. He is looking towards South Carolina as a big winner for him, but then, so is John Edwards who was born and raised in the state.
As for the Michigan primaries, both Mitt Romney and John McCain have a lot at stake. Born & raised in Michigan, Romney wants a big win here as the hometown boy. In fact, Romney has pulled his campaign dollars out of advertising in South Carolina and Florida (two areas where Fred Thompson and Rudy Guiliani have been focusing), in order to concentrate on Michigan. With his emphasis on increasing the U.S. economy, he should have a receptive audience in Detroit, which has been hard-hit by the automotive successes of Asian cars, whether imports or manufactured in the USA. John McCain is counting on independent voters giving him the edge over Romney, especially since Obama is not even campaigning here.
A third factor in the Michigan campaign is Mike Huckabee, who is wooing the large evangelical population in Michigan to bolster his chances. Emphasizing economic themes, Huckabee began running an advertisement there on Wednesday which digs at Romney, saying voters wanted a president who reminds them “of the guy they work with, not the guy that laid them off”. Romney and Huckabee are both emphasizing U.S. job losses and rising fuel prices, topics that are near to the heart of Detroit workers, and most Americans as well.
Romney, McCain and Huckabee will join the other Republican hopefuls in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina this evening, for the next debate which will be broadcast on Fox News. Then it will be right back to Michigan for all three of them, while Ron Paul continues to blast his TV ads across South Carolina airways.
With no clear winners yet in either party, this is going to be a long drawn-out battle for delegates in every state, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in awhile. This battle has just started.
Tags: Barack Obama, delegates, Democrats, Fred Thompson, Hillary Clinton, Iowa caucus, John Edwards, John McCain, Michigan Primary, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Politics, Presidential, Presidential primary, Republicans, Ron Paul, South Carolina PrimaryLeave a Reply
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