The answer to that is yes. One of the parties is eventually going to seize that issue and it might as well be the Republicans. If they can tie it to income tax rate reductions and economic stimulation it will be a winner.
That's where you're wrong. Neither major party has any interest in this issue, since both of them are firmly in the back pockets of major international corporate interests.
Interestingly, "protectionism" is likely to become increasingly irrelevant as the value of the U.S. dollar slides and it becomes more and more attractive to manufacture products here in the U.S. over time. I read a fascinating article a couple of months ago about this subject, and the author made the case that by 2016 it will be more cost-effective to manufacture most consumer products sold in the U.S. in Alabama and South Carolina than in coastal China.