'Could Romney Leave Michigan With a Bronze?'
By Aaron Goldstein (01/12/08)
There have been three races so far. I've gotten two silvers and one gold. - Mitt Romney's New Hampshire Primary Concession Speech January 8, 2008 - Manchester, NH
When I heard Mitt Romney make that statement I wasn’t sure if he was running for the White House or was planning to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
I suppose Romney can’t help himself with Olympic metaphors. After all, he did successfully organize the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. That being the case I would not be surprised that after the Michigan Republican Primary on January 15th, Romney would head to South Carolina with a Bronze.
Michigan should have been in the palm of Romney’s hand. After all, he was born and raised in Michigan. His father, George Romney, served as Michigan’s Governor for six years. But if Mitt Romney could not win New Hampshire, a year removed as the Governor of its next door neighbor Massachusetts, how does he expect to win a state where his father served as Governor forty years ago? Put it this way, when George Romney was Governor of Michigan, Denny McLain won 31 games for the 1968 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers.
To be sure, there will be older voters who remember George Romney fondly and might be inclined to vote for Mitt on that basis. But at a time when Michigan’s unemployment rate of 7.4% is the highest in the nation there is likely going to be little room for sentimentalism. In the midst of economic uncertainty, how will Romney’s venture capitalism stack up against John McCain’s straight talk or Mike Huckabee’s economic populism? It is worth remembering that McCain won the Michigan Primary in 2000. Huckabee’s friendly folksiness is also a stark contrast to Romney’s Power Point presentation.
His gold and two silvers aside, Romney’s campaign is in deep trouble. Why pull all television advertising from South Carolina and Florida if it wasn’t?
Don’t expect Mitt Romney to withdraw from the GOP race if he loses Michigan. A combination of financial resources and wounded pride will keep him in for now. But considering that Romney launched his Presidential campaign at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn in February 2007, a loss in Michigan would be demoralizing to his campaign. A third place finish could be lethal to his Presidential aspirations. As Romney himself has said, “Michigan is very personal for me.” Somehow I doubt Romney will brag about leaving Michigan with a bronze.
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