Strong three-man race' in Michigan

Michigan Foreclosure News & Information

Washington - Michigan's hard-hit economy occupies center stage as two favorite sons, Mitt Romney and John McCain, square off in a potentially decisive contest for the Republican presidential nomination, with an outsider, Mike Huckabee, gaining ground.

"It's a strong three-man race," said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist who isn't affiliated with any candidate. Michigan's primary today "is a must-win for Romney, a need-to-win for McCain, and Huckabee just has to do well enough to go on to South Carolina," which votes Jan. 19.

Romney, who was born and raised in Michigan, is staking his candidacy on a victory in the state after his second-place showings in Iowa and New Hampshire this month. Even though Romney, 60, hasn't lived in the state for more than three decades, he benefits from high name recognition: His late father, George, was chairman of American Motors Corp., a three-term governor in the 1960s and a presidential candidate.

Michigan's highest-in-the-nation unemployment rate and ballooning home-mortgage foreclosures have forced the candidates to tout their economic remedies.

This weekend, Romney and McCain sparred over who would best be able to address the state's economic woes. Romney, who promises to lower tax rates "across the board" to stimulate the economy, criticized McCain for saying some lost jobs would never come back.

"Some say these are jobs that are just going away and you better get used to it," the former Massachusetts governor said at a campaign stop Jan. 12 outside a General Motors Corp. plant in Ypsilanti where the automaker has announced plans to fire 200 workers.

After losing to Huckabee in Iowa and to McCain in New Hampshire, Romney is relying on a win in Michigan to stay competitive.

McCain, 71, also is well-known in Michigan, having won the state's Republican primary in 2000, defeating then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

Michigan had a 7.4 percent unemployment rate in November, compared with a national rate of 4.7 percent, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Last year Michigan accounted for 35,404 of the 588,882 U.S. home-mortgage foreclosures, according to foreclosure.com.

In Livonia on Jan. 12, McCain said training and technological improvements would lead to new, better-paying jobs.

Huckabee, 52, also has jumped into the economic debate. In an address at the Detroit Economic Club on Jan. 11, the former Arkansas governor laid out his proposals for a "fair tax" based on consumption that would replace federal income and payroll levies.

The ordained Baptist minister's appeal goes beyond his economic message. Lower and Western Michigan have blocs of evangelical voters who may turn out for him in large numbers. These voters account for up to 30 percent of the state's Republican electorate, and their support for Huckabee would hurt Romney more than McCain, Reed said.

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