Romney's win: The economy may be playing a greater role
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The victory of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in Tuesday's primary in Michigan keeps him in the race, but also keeps the veil drawn over whom Republican voters really want as their candidate for November.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won in Iowa. Sen. John McCain won in New Hampshire. Now Mr. Romney has won in Michigan.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, considered prior to the caucuses and primaries to be the Republican front-runner, has yet to finish in the money. At the same time, either his campaign isn't really serious or he believes that a big win in a future primary, perhaps Florida, will keep his candidacy afloat. Or, conceivably, he could be hoping for a deadlock among the Republican candidates from which he could emerge as the party's choice.
According to analysts, their reputations sullied by some painfully inaccurate prognostications, Mr. Romney won in Michigan because he was born there and his father was a successful businessman -- head of American Motors -- and three-time governor of the state. It is also possible that Mr. Romney's emphasis on the economy as a top campaign issue and his business background played directly to a shift in the priorities of Michigan Republicans toward concern over the economy.
This would be logical as each day is marked by more bad news in the U.S. economy. Mega-bank Citigroup announced, for example, an $18.1 billion write-down of the value of its assets on the day of the Michigan primary.
It is important to recall that the deterioration of the economy is related to the other big issue, the Iraq war. The war is one element in the continuing unrest in the Middle East, source of much of America's oil. The rise in the price of fuel is one of the direct causes of the U.S. economy's decline into recession. The United States also continues to spend around $9 billion a month on the war, money that otherwise would be available to inject new life into the domestic economy.
The next stop is the South Carolina primary on Saturday. At some point the process will have to evolve from regular-season politics to the real playoffs. Three different Republicans winning three different states doesn't qualify -- only underlining the competition under way. South Carolina could be revelatory. Or Americans may have to wait until the Feb. 5 multistate primaries for a single Republican candidate to emerge from the pack.
First Published January 17, 2008 12:00 am
