There's a good chance the midwest will determine the presidential election this year. The auto industry, which actually has been in a recession instead of just contmeplating one like the rest of the nation, is hardly helped by sky-high gas prices The candidate that makes the F-150 desirable again may well also aid an auto-based economy in Michigan, which is governed by, how shall we say it, a blond?
There is a real question mark as to the marketability of the Democrat brand in Michigan these days. The blond in Lansing talks about diversifying Michigan's economy which isn't a bad idea in and of itself. The problem arises when foreign auto manufacturers locate their new plants, as VW just did, in other states. Michigan likes to think it has certain assets that would make it the natural place for those factories and she's not wrong in holding that sentiment. Apparently taxation and inept government with a heapin' helpin' of over-regulation make such industrial giants as Mississippi more attractive.
This isn't the old traditional UAW hard line sentiment either. Most rational citizens realise that those new auto industry jobs are not going to be union jobs or certainly not union jobs that bulk up the UAW hymnal. But they are going to be good, well paying jobs in a state where baseline unemployment is impossibly stuck at 7% or higher.
The blond, and it must be said that she's easy on the eyes if your mind is wont to turn to thoughts of screwing a politician, is trumpeting the joint venture between PIC Kuwait and Dow Chemical that will create an $11 billion new company near Dearborn. Apparently our light-thinking governor is of the opinion that Michiganders are as air-headed as she appears to be. the new company is locating near Dearborn because Dearborn happens to be the largest Arab community within the US and offers a great Arab culture including schools. That little detail gives the average Michigan hayseed cause to ponder just what type of people, more specifically, where the people will come from to fill those new jobs. We'd hardly be paranoic to think that an influx of Kuwaiti immigrants will not fill most of them.
Keep and eye on the midwest as summer turns to fall.
RealClearPolitics - Articles - The Big 5: Picking the States That Will Pick the President