The first commercials for the Michigan primary started airing in force last night during the New Hampshire results shows. As expected, Mitt is apparently going to run hard on his business experience, as his commercials focus on economic issues (and seem to insinuate that we may be invaded by the Chinese at any moment). It’s a smart move since Michigan is struggling with massive job losses to overseas and out-of-state factories and has a very involved Union vote. Most candidates who have stumped here in the last few months have tailored their message to address Michigan workers’ fears of globalization, trade deficits, and fears about the decline of the American industrial machine. Duncan Hunter and Mitt Romney were very careful, in their last few visits and in the Michigan debate, to highlight their plans for Michigan’s economic revival even to the point of incorporating some surprisingly un-Republican language on economic protectionism and trade.
Rudy and McCain, on the other hand, are showing commercials which focus heavily on security; Rudy’s showing the spot with shots of Benazir Bhutto, kids dressed in suicide bomber garb, and his campaign mantra “Tested. Ready. Now.” and McCain is touting his experience handling foreign affairs. McCain is also stressing his Washington experience, which may or may not play well in Michigan, where residents have expressed dissatisfaction (to put it mildly) at Washington’s lack of attention to their economic situation. Huckabee has yet to campaign — or for that matter, publicly acknowledge that Michigan has a primary — but Club for Growth will start airing anti-Huckabee ads here today, and if there is one thing Michiganians are wary of, its someone who solves economic problems with taxes.
Mitt is a hometown favorite. Love for his father runs deep, and has had remarkable longevity. He could certainly still win here. He’s on the right message at the right time, anyway.