by Jill Zuckman
He hasn't even been picked yet.
But with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney touted repeatedly by prognosticators as a likely vice presidential pick for Sen. John McCain, the Michigan Democratic Party is putting its two cents in.
"We've noticed 'Mitt' and 'Michigan' showing up in the same sentence a lot lately, so we thought it was time to take a hard look at Romney's record on the issue that matters most to Michigan voters--jobs," said Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer, touting a new web ad. "And any way you look at it Romney earns a failing grade. Conventional wisdom in Washington might be that Romney's business experience means he's good on the economy, but even the slightest glance at his record indicates otherwise."
Romney, who was born in Michigan and is the son of a famed former Michigan governor, is often described as having just the right sort of business experience that could be helpful to McCain during these tough economic times.
But the Michigan Democratic Party helpfully reminds that as a venture capitalist for Bain Capital, some of his investments resulted in plants and factories being shut down and workers losing their jobs.
"John McCain might trust him with the economy, but you can't afford to," the state party's video concludes ominously.
Scott Romney, the Michigan co-chair for McCain, begs to differ about his brother's record, and notes that Michigan is suffering economically under Democratic leadership.
"This is full of distortions and untruths from the Democrats who are desperate to distract people from Barack Obama's plan to raise taxes. Gov. Romney helped create thousands of jobs in the private sector," Scott Romney said. "When Gov Romney took office, Massachusetts was in a recession and losing thousands of jobs every month. When he left office four years later, the state's economy was adding thousands of jobs every month.
"Unfortunately, under Democratic leadership, Michigan continues to experience soaring unemployment, higher taxes and loss of jobs," he continued. "This is the kind of record that Barack Obama has aligned himself with in Michigan. Mitt will continue to actively engage all Michiganders in support of Senator John McCain's strong economic policies to help Michigan grow their economies and add much needed jobs."
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Comments
Katie, some more fodder for your "misstatements" posts. Today Obama called the senate banking committee "my committee" even though he's not nor never has been a member of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjzb61wfyN0&eurl=http://www.redstate.com/
Posted by: Jeff | July 23, 2008 2:58 PM
Don't sweat it. My source tells me the McCain VP will be Sarah Palin.
Posted by: tyrone | July 23, 2008 3:09 PM
I hope Grandpa McBush picks Plastic Mitt as his running mate. Romney is just as big of a flip-flopper and double talker as McBush is and just like McBush, he's about as exciting as watching paint dry.
Posted by: John E | July 23, 2008 3:13 PM
What they don't mention is that closing a factory to keep a company running in the black is MUCH better than letting the whole company go down in flames.
Romney understands that a company needs to cut bloat.
For that matter, our government needs to cut bloat as well. Why pay someone to do a job hen it can be done more efficiently?
Example: When you take your car to a mechanic, you don't want them to take twice as long just so the other extra mechanic can get paid too. It's your money! You only want to pay the one that is giving you a benefit.
So why do Democrats insist that it's okay to spend government money (taxpayer money) on inefficiency in the name of keeping someone employed? If you disagree, next time you get your oil changed, feel free to pay twice the price.
Posted by: A. Burns | July 23, 2008 3:14 PM
Who cares if McCain is exciting. I'll take a boring old conservative any day over Obama and all his pre-written speeches. Obama has voted for a tax increase for people making as low as 30k on average once every five days he has been in office. Now that is exciting!
Posted by: C | July 23, 2008 3:18 PM
Katie, some more fodder for your "misstatements" post.
McCain called out Obama for attending only two Afganistan hearings when in fact McCain attended zero of his own committee's six hearings on Afghanistan over the last two years,:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/18/mccain-missed-hearings/
Posted by: John E | July 23, 2008 3:32 PM
Too much bad blood between McCain and Mittens. Just like there is too much between Hillary and his holiness.
Posted by: Herbie H. | July 23, 2008 3:45 PM
To steal a line from the typical libs on here, wow, don't the Democrats have anything better to do than attack a potential VP? Why aren't they addressing the real issues. Truth is that Romney knows more about business and economy than any other presidential nominee. Like A Burns said, sometimes you need to close a plant to save a company. Democrats are so in with the unions, who are the ones responsible for the closing of these plants, that they believe that no one should ever close a plant or shop. Sorry, but it is hard to justify paying someone $40 an hour to hang doors on cars, and the unions refuse to budge on anything, so the company has no choice but to close up shop and move somewhere they can produce goods profitably.
Posted by: Mike | July 23, 2008 4:32 PM
Mike,
Unions don't tell General Motors what kind of cars to build. G.M. chose to build SUVs and Hummers and now they're paying the price.
Well over a year ago, Senator Obama proposed that U.S. taxpayers pick up part of the cost of auto company health care if the car companies would change to hybrid and other fuel effecient cars. The idea being that in the long run more people would be working and paying taxes so that the proposal essentially paid for itself. Now G.M. can't give SUVs away.
Back to your central point about unions, yes, it is the job of American unions to advocate for American workers. Ask yourself, where did the middle class come from? If you want to work for table scraps, go ahead, you're sure to find an employer willing to go along with it.
Posted by: Doug "Hussein" Zook | July 23, 2008 5:11 PM
Mike & A. Burns-
What good are prosperous companies if their prosperity doesn't help the rest of the country?
If GM makes billions, but all their workers are in China, that doesn't help this country very much. Unemployed workers are not good for this country. Poorly paid workers are not good for this country.
Saying that the problem with the American economy is that workers actually benefit from their work is nonsensical. The purpose of having a good economy is so that the entire nation benefits.
Posted by: MBT | July 23, 2008 5:59 PM
Isn't this the kettle calling the pot black? How has the economy been doing with the policies of Governor Granholm?
Posted by: Shawn | July 23, 2008 6:07 PM
Doug 'Hussein', having the taxpayers pick up the cost for a corporations workers is socialism. But hey, free healthcare for everyone. You say that it was GMs decision to build SUVs, which is correct, because the market demanded it. Funny how you have an issue with a corporation following demand with their production line, but it is acceptable for Obama to tell the automakers what to produce? That is marxist to the t.
MBT, companies have obligations to their shareholders first and foremost. It is their goal to make money, not to lose money. If they can make money using US workers great, but if it is between shutting down a plant or line to stay in business, or to keep going and have the whole company go under it only makes sense to shut down the plant. American companies have to compete with imports that are produced cheaper than the US mainly because of labor costs. While the conditions of the workers in other countries is abhorant, American companies cannot compete with the prices foreign companies charge. I think that US companies do what they can as long as they can to keep jobs here, but sometimes it just is not feasible. Do you honestly think that the evil corporations enjoy laying off people and closing plants?
Posted by: Mike | July 23, 2008 6:59 PM
A Burns3:14pm-you and I read that in the same way.
Here's what I would think if I were McCain. How often do you see a video made of someone who hasn't even been selected if they will be at all. That tells me they are VERY threatened by Mitt Romney HA! GOOD!
I think if Romney is picked, and he's asked a question about anything he's changed his mind on (Pro-Life) etc...and he's honest and straight forward with his answers he'll be one up on the other presidential candidate...that's saying a lot.
Doug-unions are not what they use to be. We can debate the reasons for that, but they're more of a money grab now, they're more interested in collecting dues that supporting the workers. They top that off by telling workers who to vote for and spending their dues on their own choice of candidates. Enough said.
MBT-It's a Global Economy now, Toyota is also in our country paying high wages and good benefits to our workers. They are NOT UNION!
Posted by: Teresa | July 23, 2008 7:00 PM
McCain, please pick Romney. Please do it. I wanna see what adding a Mormon to your ticket does to the evangelical vote.
Posted by: Bryan | July 23, 2008 7:29 PM
Brian-7:29pm-While I don't personally feel Romney will be the pick, I feel pretty safe with Mormanism (not 3 wife jazz) will stack up in spade ub against the Pesidential candidates religion of 20 years, his pick of a veep is CRUCIAL, he needs the distraction in oh so many ways ha ha!
Posted by: Teresa | July 24, 2008 3:31 AM
Yes McCain, please pick Romney who did quite well in Southern States when he was running for the nomination. Please pick Romney. I want to see how the Conservatives will vote between a Muslim for President and a Mormon for VP. I want to see how Christian they really are.
Posted by: David | July 26, 2008 2:06 PM