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"Scam" ads the norm Trail Mix: Hillary haters spam cyberspace Gunning for the center Democrats make Hillary legit The blundering pundit Don Giuliani Campaign video: |
On to Michigan
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Feb. 20, 2000 | DETROIT -- But for a junkie, Michigan has so far been a letdown. After getting a full dose of the intensity of this race in New Hampshire, and tons of war stories from colleagues in South Carolina, there have been no signs of political activity anywhere around me. In the hours of television and radio I've absorbed, I've only seen and heard a handful of political spots. This weekend, cataclysmic reports of the three inches of snow that fell here Friday outdid any political coverage on the local newscasts by at least 10-1. But the intensity level will rise Sunday, when the two GOP presidential front-runners begin their two-day push for votes in Michigan. After Saturday's drubbing in South Carolina, Michigan is a must-win primary for McCain. Though he and Texas Gov. George W. Bush are now even in head-to-head primaries, having each won one, Bush is hoping that the bounce from South Carolina will help him put the dagger in McCain's insurgent campaign. On Saturday night McCain headed straight to Michigan for a scheduled midnight rally with supporters.
The latest polls here show the race in a dead heat. Sunday's edition of the Detroit News reports that McCain is narrowly ahead of Bush, 40 to 38 percent, with 5 percent intending to vote for someone else, and 17 percent still undecided. But that poll was taken midweek, before Bush's commanding win in South Carolina. Now McCain must find a way to counter the new, high-decibel, feisty Bush who stole the reform mantle from him, beat McCain up for comparing him to Clinton, and galvanized his conservative base. But Michigan starts a new phase of the presidential primary season. The GOP race has moved out of the small, eccentric hamlets of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Michigan is the first of the urban, industrial primaries. The auto industry, and the new high-tech manufacturing it has spurred, is the largest employer in the state, which is also home to some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. With its high-tech workers, business-owners and large union population, the electorate here may be more reflective of the national political mood. In fact, changing Midwestern "Rust Belt" states like Michigan, Illinois and Ohio may be a key battleground for the November election. As the election moves to larger, industrial states, the primaries will, by necessity, go virtual. While McCain went to more than 100 town meetings in New Hampshire, he has only three large rallies planned for his campaign day Sunday. (McCain will split his time between Michigan and his home state of Arizona, which has a primary the same day.) Michigan voters will get only two days to see the GOP candidates, compared to the two weeks South Carolina voters just had. As far as campaign 2000 is concerned, retail politics is over. Despite the lack of obvious signs of political engagement, Michigan Secretary of State Candice Miller claims there is great interest in the Bush/McCain battle royale. Her spokesman, Brad Whitman, says close to 1 million of Michigan's 6.7 million registered voters are expected to go to the polls Tuesday, up from just over 745,000 four years ago. And the state's open primary has created some bizarre political sideshows which have become routine in Michigan politics.
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