News from
THE MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      
Contact: Jason Moon
517-371-5410
October 9, 2007

GOP Candidates “Not Ready for Prime Time”

GOP presidential candidates not ready to offer alternatives to Bush’s policies harming Michigan

LANSING- Today before the GOP presidential debate in Dearborn at 4PM, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer wondered if the Republican candidates were ready for prime time and ready to specifically explain how their plans to help fix Michigan’s problems would be different from the disastrous policies of President Bush. No state has been hit harder than Michigan by President Bush’s economic polices that support outsourcing, unfair trade agreements and currency manipulation, and his hostility towards the automotive and manufacturing industries.

“This non-prime time debate is well-suited to the GOP candidates who are not ready for prime time in Michigan,” Brewer said. “The voters of Michigan do not want to see a group of Bush clones this afternoon in Dearborn, but unfortunately they are not going to be able to tell the difference between the candidates on stage and Bush. Michiganders want to hear specific solutions to the problems facing our automotive and manufacturing industries and an exit strategy in Iraq, not the vague ideas and sound bites they have heard throughout the campaign.”

Since Bush took office in January 2001, Michigan has lost 229,000 manufacturing jobs and its unemployment rate has risen almost 60%, rising from 4.7% to 7.4%

In 2004, The Los Angeles Times wrote that the Bush Administration argued the outsourcing of U.S. manufacturing jobs was a "positive transformation that will enrich the U.S. economy…" N. Gregory Mankiw, Chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisors went on to say, "Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade."

The Kalamazoo Gazette reported yesterday, “The Big Three's relationship with President Bush has been, well, frosty at times. The president's unwillingness to meet with auto executives before the November election was interpreted by many that the White House had little interest in offering help to the ailing industry.”

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