I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
The candidate returns Friday and hopes Romney’s popularity will help
Sen. John McCain is really showing Michigan the love.
The presumed Republican nominee is scheduled to meet privately with autoworkers in Warren on Friday morning, just days after his campaign officially opened its regional office in Farmington Hills and only one week after his last visit, with a group of small business owners in Belleville.
McCain’s aggressive wooing of Michigan voters reflects just how up for grabs the state’s 17 electoral college votes are this election year. A statewide Rasmussen poll of 500 likely voters taken on July 10 had Democrat Barack Obama leading McCain by eight percentage points, 47 percent to 39 percent. The poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
“The Great Lakes states, the manufacturing base of the country, have historically played an important role as swing states in presidential elections, and there’s no reason to think 2008 will be any different,” Michael Traugott, professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan, told Michigan Messenger.
Continued -The McCain campaign’s attentiveness to Michigan “has got to do with the electoral college map and the fact that [campaign officials] believe the state is seriously in play and that they have a good chance,” he added.
McCain’s visit to Warren will highlight his Lexington Project, a plan that includes offering a $5,000 tax credit for buying a zero-carbon-emission car, said campaign spokeswoman Leah Yoon.
“John McCain understands the need to replace jobs that have been lost with the jobs of the future,” Yoon said in an e-mail.
Touting his plan to invest in advanced automotive technology isn’t McCain’s only tip o’ the hat to Michigan this week: Native son and former rival for the Republican nomination Mitt Romney was on hand for the Farmington Hills office’s grand opening.
Romney has long been on the short-list of speculative picks for McCain’s vice presidential nominee. In the last week, that speculation has mounted, with Romney’s appearance in Farmington Hills and McCain’s campaign announcing that Romney’s brother, Scott, will co-chair the Michigan campaign.
McCain’s people also have said that they chose Farmington Hills for the regional office location because it’s the seat of Romney’s support.
Romney defeated McCain in Michigan’s Republican primary in January. The former Massachusetts governor would have a positive impact on McCain’s chances of defeating Sen. Barack Obama in November if he helps him deliver the battleground state of Michigan, said Ken Kollman, professor of political science at the University of Michigan.
“I think it can only help McCain in Michigan to have Romney as his vice president,” Kollman said. “In a state like this, it’s probably going to be a turnout battle. McCain is pretty popular in Michigan. But the available evidence seems to indicate it’s going to be close, so even if Romney can help just a little bit, it could make a big difference here.”
Romney could help deliver social conservatives, Traugott said, and could balance McCain’s perceived weakness on the economy, a top concern for voters nationwide and especially in Michigan.
“McCain has generally, and self-admittedly, been weak on economic issues, and Romney’s management experience could help there,” he said.
Romney helped turn around the scandal-mired 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Prior to that, his career included heading up a venture capital firm and other business experience.
But whether Romney’s strength among conservatives — social and economic — will land him the No. 2 spot on McCain’s ticket remains difficult to predict.
“I don’t know how to assess the likelihood that he’ll pick Romney,” Kollman said. “I think it solves some problems [McCain] feels he has among certain conservatives, but Romney’s Mormonism might hurt him among voters whose turnout is not guaranteed, like less-educated evangelical voters. It’s a very complicated conversation I’m sure is going on.”
Photo by Minni Forman of McCain in Belleville last week.
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