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Candidates Pledge Michigan Revival

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By DAVID ESPO, The Associated Press

Published: January 15, 2008

Republican rivals Mitt Romney and John McCain both promised to revive recession-ravaged Michigan and the auto industry Monday as they campaigned in a presidential primary neither can afford to lose.

"I will not rest until Michigan is back," said Romney, a native son who jabbed at his rival for saying many jobs among the thousands lost will never return.

"We will create new jobs," insisted McCain, who also favors improvements in federal programs for laid-off workers. "We have the innovation, the talent, the knowledge and the ability ... to regain Michigan's position as the best in the world."

In contrast to a hard-fought Republican primary, the Democratic race in Michigan existed in name only. After a confrontation between Michigan and the national political party over the state's move into the early part of the campaign calendar, Hillary Rodham Clinton is the only major Democrat to leave her name on the ballot.

In the Republican primary, polls showed McCain and Romney in a close race, with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee running third.

Of the three, Romney is most in need of a victory as he looks to restore at least some of the luster lost with defeats in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. Several associates have suggested the former Massachusetts governor may quit the race unless he prevails.

McCain won the state's primary eight years ago on the strength of independent voters, and hopes for a reprise today. He has regained the lead in the national polls that he enjoyed months ago - before his campaign nearly came apart during the summer.

Huckabee has less at stake in Michigan than his two rivals, and hopes to attract votes from those hard-hit by the state's economic troubles, as well as from evangelical Christians, who powered him to victory in Iowa.

He, too, campaigned on economic issues Monday.

"Some of the toughest competition your company faces is from its own government, whose tax policies, whose regulatory policies, the threat of litigation, makes it real tough to stay in business," he told employees at a Demmer Corp. plant near Lansing that makes armored personnel carriers for the military.

Among other Republicans, former Sen. Fred Thompson is making a last stand in South Carolina. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani campaigned in Florida.

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