Michigan Voters Decide and More

(Disclosure: Global Trade Watch has no preference among the candidates.)

Michigan voters chose Mitt Romney in yesterday's Republican primary. The economy was the top issue (again). CNN says,

About 41 percent of those for whom it was the top concern cast their ballots for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, compared with 29 percent for Arizona Sen. John McCain.

During the campaign, Romney said he believed he could bring back lost jobs and pledged that in the first 100 days of his presidency, he would convene a summit to rebuild the Big Three automakers.

McCain, on the other hand, said many of the auto industry jobs were gone forever and vowed to focus instead on retraining for jobs of the future.

You may remember that Mitt Romney also said in last week's Republican debate:

I've seen jobs come and go; I'll make sure that jobs come to America.

I'm going to fight for every single job, Michigan, South Carolina, every state in this country. We're going to fight for jobs and make sure that our future is bright. We're going to protect the jobs of Americans and grow this economy again.

Candidates everywhere - even some unlikely ones - are running on trade!

And Sarah Anderson, director of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies asked today, Will Dems Follow Thru on Promises to Fix NAFTA? She concludes:

Latin America's leading free trade opponents should not hold their breath over the prospect of a bold new ally in the White House. The long slog to overhaul our trade and investment policies didn't end in Iowa or New Hampshire and it won't end on Nov. 4 -- no matter who wins. In fact, the most positive likely outcome may be that the United States takes to the sidelines of the globalization debate. And yet even this would be welcome, after so many years of attempting to carry the ball in the wrong direction.

To judge for yourself, read the candidate statements here.