In Michigan, voters focus on the war

[AmyStrange]

In Michigan, voters focus on the war
By James Rosen -- Bee Washington Bureau
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, June 14, 2004

FROM: http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/9650858p-10574224c.html
Political experts believe the 2004 presidential election will be decided in 15 to 20 "battleground" states. This is the first in an occasional series on key national issues from the vantage point of one of those swing states.

DEARBORN, Mich. - Here in the biggest Iraqi community in the United States, hundreds danced in the streets in April 2003 when Saddam Hussein's government collapsed, and grateful Iraqi Americans cheered President Bush as a liberator a few weeks later when he visited this Arab enclave to herald the change.

Now, after months of upheaval in their homeland, many Iraqi expatriates are having second thoughts.
Ghanim Al-Jumaily, a Baghdad native who runs a large charity that is sending relief to Iraq, voted for Bush in 2000. He isn't sure he'll vote for him again in November.

"They were not ready for what came after the fall of Saddam," Al-Jumaily said of Bush and his national security team. "They should have planned it better. For many of us, our worst fears are becoming reality."

The unease over Iraq spreads well beyond the large Arab community in Michigan, an election battleground state that hasn't gone for a Republican presidential candidate since it backed Bush's father in 1988. The younger Bush lost to Al Gore by 5 percentage points four years ago.

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[JNelson6563]

1. Michigan won't go Republican

And I predict that will not be limited to the WH race either.

It's going to be a bruising experience for the GOP on election day. Too much of Michigan is hurting and the hue and cry for change isn't falling on deaf ears.

:toast:

Julie--raising the hue and cry

[Scoopie]

2. And so does the rest of the country

which is why I've been so adamant about a VP with further foreign policy credentials.

No one's talking much about the economy - yes, we'd all like better-paying jobs, but the bulk of anyone's conversation - whether liberal, conservative or moderate - at least in my neck of the woods - is about the war.