Posted on 01/16/2008 11:14:04 PM PST by Plutarch
He's not exactly a Macomb County kind of guy.
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So, how did Mitt Romney manage to score so much success here on Election Day?
The former Massachusetts governor posted 20-point victory, with Macomb giving him one of his biggest margins of any county in the state.
His 45 percent to 25 percent trouncing of John McCain all across Macomb County dramatically reversed the outcome registered here in 2000 when the Arizona senator posted a comfortable win in the GOP primary.
In fact, more than half of Romney's 80,000-vote margin on Tuesday over McCain statewide was accumulated in just two counties - Macomb and his home turf of Oakland County.
In Macomb County - a supposedly blue-collar, ethnic, working-class community - voters embraced a candidate who grew up as an Oakland County rich kid and went on to become a spectacularly wealthy venture capitalist.
The son of former American Motors president and Michigan Gov. George Romney, the candidate enjoyed "favorite son" status in Michigan. But was he a good fit for Macomb?
Romney was raised in Bloomfield Hills, attended the exclusive Cranbrook School, was educated at Harvard and then scored financially by overseeing leveraged buyouts of companies that were ripe for the picking.
Macomb Democrats seemed baffled by Romney's winning ways here. State Sen. Michael Switalski called the final Macomb election numbers "amazing." In retrospect, he assumed, like many other political observers, that Romney's well-financed campaign cashed in on his Michigan roots and his understanding of the auto industry.
But why would he win here by margins that were more than twice as large as the rest of the state? Why would a marginally Democratic, ticket-splitting county deliver more votes for Romney than the Republican strongholds of southwest Michigan?
What was the emotional connection between Macomb and Mitt?
He's not Italian or Polish or even Catholic - not even close. He's a devout Mormon. And he's a GQ-looking guy who has made his fortune - estimated at up to $250 million - by working deals on Wall Street, not Main Street.
With his perfectly coifed hair and flawless speaking style, Romney was undoubtedly the target of GOP rival Mike Huckabee's line: "People want a president who reminds them of the guy they work with, not the guy who laid them off."
In short, Romney's not the kind of guy who the typical Macomb voter would have a beer with at the local pub while watching a football game and munching on peanuts.
He's upper crust. But voters said they liked his blend of ingredients - considerable business experience, a Mr. Fix It track record, an appreciation of the auto industry's struggles, a promise to right this state's ailing economy.
He tapped into Michigan's misery. He felt our pain. Yet, he offered optimism that contrasted with McCain's gloomy assertion that auto jobs have been lost and they're not coming back.
"I think it was his message of hope that made the difference," said GOP county Commissioner Pete Lund of Shelby Township. "McCain tried 'tough talk' but he didn't offer tough solutions."
Exit polls and voter interviews showed that suburbanites were more concerned about the economy than the overall Michigan electorate. And they viewed Romney as a problem solver who could turn the state around as president. Perhaps most of all, he was "in tune" with the Great Lakes State.
On the campaign trail, he told voters he likes drinking Vernors and remembers shopping at Hudson's. But he's probably never been to Macomb Mall or went to "The Clem" to have a few drinks.
At rallies, Romney presented himself as a "car guy" and supporters shook their heads knowingly. Well, the former governor drives a Mustang now but one Boston newspaper reported that "his baby" was his classic 1985 BMW.
Not too many of those in the garages in Warren or Sterling Heights.
Pollster Ed Sarpolus, an Eastpointe native, explains Macomb's sudden affection for the man named Mitt this way: It all came down to turnout and demographics. Tuesday's primary turned on positions on issues, not personalities.
Sarpolus noted that few Democrats went to the polls to cross over and vote in the GOP primary, as McCain had hoped. Independents were also not much of a factor, so the blue-collar union vote had limited impact on the Republican outcome.
In addition, many voters didn't know details about Romney's background or how he earned his millions. What they did know, Sarpolus said, is that "he was talking about their pain, their issues."
The EPIC-MRA pollster said that Romney benefited in Macomb County from seniors who see him as the next-generation Romney, Catholics who were turned off by Huckabee's Southern Baptist sentimentalities, and conservative male voters who turned out in large numbers.
"Romney had it going all the way around," he said. "He got the seniors because of his dad. He got the angry white males who are pro-Bush. And he got those voters who are anti-immigration, anti-tax, anti-everything."
In a county that made its mark two decades ago as the home of the Reagan Democrats, some Republicans are quick to note that Reagan put us on the map, but he wasn't a guy from the neighborhood.
"Ronald Reagan didn't really fit here either. He was a Hollywood actor. He was the former governor of California," said Republican county Commissioner Leon Drolet of Macomb Township. "I think that, just because your father wasn't an auto worker doesn't mean you can't be embraced by Macomb County voters."
I think people like Mitt’s hardworking ethic also. Sure, he’s a rich man, but everyone knows rich people had to work hard to get there. The business of America is business.
Soooo, disapearing media is wondering houcom people vvvvoted???
mabeee Mitt is better looking than Macaniac?
...and at last, the “he connects with people” thing that the media loves to say elludes Romney. He’s the nominee, it’s only a matter of time.
Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)
It's quite simple actually.
McCain is too liberal and too old. Senator, thank you for your service. Now go play golf somewhere.
Rudy...Well, Rudy is from New York. The same state that made a carpetbagger a US senator. Bye Rudy.
Despite his conservative values, Thompson looks like a pervert standing next to his daughter wife. Senator, you want to live the Hollywood lifestyle, more power to you. Just keep it out of the White House.
Huckabee...He should have done better. Shame on his staff.
Ron Paul...Oh I don't know..is it because he's CRAZY.
Mitt isn't perfect but he's the best we've got. That's how he score so much success
“Thompson looks like a pervert”
You have a perverted since of humor.
YOU are the pervert on display here, sir. Anyone capable of writing this swill has his head well and truly submerged in the septic tank.
I will be calling this to the attention of the moderator. I am sure that Jim Robinson does not want YOUR kind in HIS house.
They know he means business.
As a black male who worked for a Mormon company for 11 years within a conservative Mormon environment, I tend to think Mitt Romney and fellow Mormons are the only hope America has to offset extreme greed, stupidity, ignorance, indifference and declining morality within America society. In short, the Party should end and the clean-up should begin and it wouldn't be easy or fun, so Mitt's the only one.
Answer, $$$$$$$$$$$$$$
I think Mitt is a hardcore pacifist and the Mormon religion may be the reason.
What the Hell are you talking about? As a Mormon, I gotta tell you I don’t know a lot who are ‘pacifists’. But hey, maybe you would care to ‘enlighten’ me on how my “religion may be the reason”. I look forward to hearing yet another bigoted, inaccurate, falsely manipulative answer...
P.S. Wanna fight?
So you agree he is a pacifist, but you disagree it is because he is a Mormon
You bet. I am waiting, come on across the “Sound”
Romney has a lot of energy. He’s without a question the most energetic of the candidates, Huckabee being the second most energetic.
If so, the US has had a hardcore activist win-at-all-cost with intellectual atheism as a driver guiding philosophy in a changing interconnected world where the big kid on the block (and it's human nature to collectively go against the big kid) is starting to lose influence (China withdrawing 2 bil from the Citi deal and Saudi contradicting Bush with petroleum production). If you have every worked with Mormons, they simply work cheaper, effectively, in a team oriented way and all while raising families. That sets a good tone for fellow Americans.
I don’t know about Thompson being a pervert...that’s pretty unfair. While Fred says the right things, it not just what you say, but how you say it. He comes off as a stiff most of the time...he lacks a sense of passion and fire in the belly. In fact, having a younger wife is one of the few signs that Fred actually has a pulse.
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