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(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: Is Mitt Romney taking Michigan for a ride? Jan. 15, 2008 | SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- Remember the Nash Rambler, the convertible that took so many families on cross-country vacations in the 1950s and '60s? Mitt Romney remembers. In fact, he owns one. The car was produced by the American Motor Co. back when Romney's father, George, was its president. Last year, when Romney turned 60, his own sons chipped in to buy him a '62 Rambler. "That was the kind of car I drove in high school," he reminisced before a crowd of suburban voters on Sunday. "You marvel at how much cars have changed. Great big steering wheel. There are no seat belts." Romney should have made the Rambler his official campaign vehicle, because he's been pitching himself to Michiganders as the man who'll bring back the state's glory days, when every car bore an American nameplate, and an auto executive could say, "What's good for General Motors is good for the country, and vice versa." Back then, Washington didn't hassle the automakers with burdensome mandates for stuff like seat belts. Or higher gas mileage. All week, Romney and John McCain have been feuding over whether the auto industry represents Michigan's past, or its future. On Saturday, at a town hall meeting in blue-collar Warren, McCain gave his supporters some of his straight talk, telling them, "The jobs that are leaving the state of Michigan have left and are not coming back. We're going to try to create new jobs." To replace the old lifestyle of building internal combustion engines, McCain proposed research in hybrid motors, battery-powered cars and hydrogen fuel cells. He also wants to open job retraining centers in the state's community colleges. "Our future is ahead of us in Michigan," he said. "Let's not look back. Let's look forward. We'll restore Michigan back to its preeminent place in America and the world." To Romney, McCain's approach isn't futurism, it's pessimism. In Southfield, he had a one-word retort: "Baloney." "I hear people say, 'It's gone, those jobs are gone, transportation's gone, it's not coming back,'" he said. "I'm going to fight for every single job. I'm going to rebuild the industry. I'm going to take burdens off the back of the auto industry." Romney criticized federal fuel efficiency standards -- passed last year over the objection of Michigan's congressional delegation -- which require cars and light trucks to average 35 miles per gallon by 2020. He's also been slamming McCain for supporting a tax on energy companies that exceed certain levels of carbon dioxide emissions. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
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He needs to start calling all his opponents "luddites". He'd be guaranteed to lock up the smug vote.
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