By Rick Pearson
LANSING, Mich.--The snow has all but stopped but the voting hasn't in Michigan where voters will decide a Republican presidential primary that could have much to say about the shape of the GOP race going forward.
Mitt Romney, John McCain and Mike Huckabee all made early stops around the state in a last pitch for support before the polls close at 8 p.m. EST in a race that surveys have found to be exceedingly tight.
Early turnout forecasts anticipate 20 percent, or 1.5 million, of the state's 7.1 million voters. But even that forecast is suspect since no one is sure what Democratic voters will do. Democrats and independents can vote in the Republican primary and Democrats are not actively competing in Michigan since the state moved up its primary date in defiance of national party rules.
A strong crossover vote could help John McCain, the Arizona senator who won the state's primary eight years ago in defeating the eventual Republican nominee, then-Gov. George W. Bush of Texas.
McCain predicted a "very close" result but also encouraged crossover voters to turn out.
Romney, a native son and the son of a former governor, told a crowd in Grand Rapids that "I think Michigan is going to vote for a Romney again."
Desperately in need of a first place finish after runner up finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire despite spending millions of dollars, Romney said, ""This is the day that's going to change, I believe, the politics of our nation as we get ready to select our nominee."
Huckabee, campaigning in the parking lot of the Warren Woods Baptist Church in Warren, said he had heard voter turnout was light. That, he said, was a hopeful sign for him.
Both McCain and Huckabee planned to watch the primary results from South Carolina, which holds its GOP primary, the next on the accelerated primary calendar, on Saturday.
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Comments
People of MICHIGAN,
McCain doesn't have a clue as to how to fix the economy, he's a longtime Washington insider who has done nothing but fight for the rich guys.
McCain was a Founding Member of the Keating Five
Back in the old days, defendants in famous trials got numbers -- the Chicago Eight, the Gang of Four, the Dave Clark Five, the Daytona 500. McCain was one of the "Keating Five," congressmen investigated on ethics charges for strenuously helping convicted racketeer Charles Keating after he gave them large campaign contributions and vacation trips.
Charles Keating was convicted of racketeering and fraud in both state and federal court after his Lincoln Savings & Loan collapsed, costing the taxpayers $3.4 billion. His convictions were overturned on technicalities; for example, the federal conviction was overturned because jurors had heard about his state conviction, and his state charges because Judge Lance Ito (yes, that judge) screwed up jury instructions. Neither court cleared him, and he faces new trials in both courts.)
Though he was not convicted of anything, McCain intervened on behalf of Charles Keating after Keating gave McCain at least $112,00 in contributions. In the mid-1980s, McCain made at least 9 trips on Keating's airplanes, and 3 of those were to Keating's luxurious retreat in the Bahamas. McCain's wife and father-in-law also were the largest investors (at $350,000) in a Keating shopping center; the Phoenix New Times called it a "sweetheart deal."
Full story here:
http://www.realchange.org/mccain.htm
Romney 08!
Posted by: Evan | January 15, 2008 5:13 PM
Look out, don't kick those tires too hard!
Posted by: C.Morris | January 15, 2008 5:29 PM
Standard National Debt Response:
I will submit this every time some Christian Republican Troll complains about the national debt. I am tired of re-explaining it to them every time with new pixals.
***************
Here is the chart showing the nearly bell curve growth of the national debt under GWB/Cheney.
http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm
Two notes of interest:
1. The debt grew at it's fastest rate under Reagan/Bush and Bush/Cheney.
In fact, it takes off like a Scud missile under President Dimwit.
2. The debt only leveled off under Bill Clinton's term from about '96 to '00 due to his wise tax policies and economic prudence.
Now, when GWB/Cheney took office they started looking for reasons to cut taxes and run up the debt, in spite of the fact that the American people supported NOT cutting taxes and paying down the debt! You see, they actually wanted to destroy the effectiveness of the federal government. What better way to do it than destroying America's fiscal and financial standing?
This time around '99-'00 was a historic opportunity to reduce, (not eliminate entirely) the national debt. In fact, the American people, wisely, opposed all of Boy George's tax cuts at about the 65% level, give or take 4%.
Well, Cheney said 'deficits don't matter', and GWD said he 'hit the trifecta' and they chose to cut taxes on the wealthy in spite of America's opposition. They even cut taxes going into a costly and unnecessary war.
I see it as 'cutting off the nose of someone else to spite some unnamed third party'.
It's a fact; GWB cut taxes for ideological reasons despite the opposition the huge majority of American public opinion.
BTW, we saved our portion and that was attacked as unpatriotic. Hey! We may need another new muffler some day!
What will happen when we need a crossover pipe!!
Posted by: C.Morris | January 15, 2008 6:42 PM
I am disappointed in McCain. He has been exposed as a lying hypocrite by Newsweek. He has sent out fliers to voters lying about Romney and about himself. Factcheck.org: McCain's Misleading Mailer
He faults Romney for "providing" state funding for abortions that Romney didn't seek, and courts ordered.
By Brooks Jackson | factcheck.org
Jan 15, 2008 | Updated: 10:40 a.m. ET Jan 15, 2008Summary
McCain is sending out a postcard mailing in South Carolina that is misleading on more than one point.
Posted by: Josh Wendorff | January 15, 2008 7:00 PM
McCain has strong ties to Michigan and is an expert innovator regarding the economy. He is, by far, the most qualified and would achieve the most positive results of any of the candidates. He will also be great for the country as a whole.
Posted by: Jill Pemberly | January 15, 2008 7:07 PM
Yeah,
A blood-sucking venture capitalist is what Michigan needs to heal the middle-class. Romney cares about your vote, just not about you.
Posted by: dt | January 15, 2008 8:01 PM
Will the state of Nevada have an issue with the population of illegal aliens voting? According to a official report, all an individual has to do to caste a vote is to sign an affidavit of being a citizen. When you break the sovereign laws of the United States, what makes us think their will not violate our voting laws. Tell me who is going to authenticate this travesty of our Constitutional right, if foreign nationals wish to transgress our voting laws? With Nevada having a huge showing of illegal foreign nationals, it will be interesting to see the political impact. This 2008 election will have a massive adverse effect on the rights and privileges of true Americans. According to an estimate of the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005 there were an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 illegal aliens living in Nevada This estimate ranks 15th among illegal alien populations in the United States for the PEW estimate. FAIR estimates in 2004 that the taxpayers of Nevada spent $321.1 million per year on illegal aliens and their children in public schools.
Posted by: Brittanicus | January 15, 2008 8:08 PM