9-25-08, 9:25 am

'Michigan is the key to the whole [electoral] map,' a pollster recently told Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne. It's 17 electoral votes are one reason, but the anger of the state's working families over Bush economic and trade policies that have cost them jobs and a decent standard of living is far more telling.

Right now, Wall Street's collapse has Washington's attention, but working families who have been struggling for years have been long ignored. No where has this gap between Main Street and Wall Street been felt more than in Michigan.

While the national unemployment rate rose in August to a five-year high of 6.1 percent, the unemployment rate in Michigan stood at 8.9 percent. Four of the state's largest cities – Detroit, Grand Rapids, Saginaw, Flint – ranked near the top of the federal government's list of cities with high unemployment.

Near Grand Rapids, auto parts maker, Lear Corp., shipped its plant to Mexico, laying off hundreds of autoworkers. Robin Golden, president of UAW Local 2344 and one of the laid-off workers, spoke about it at the Democratic National Convention in August.

'I believed if I worked hard and did a good job, I'd have my job until I retired,' he said. Golden pointed the finger at John McCain, who has repeatedly voted for tax breaks for companies and business to move jobs out of the country. 'It's time for a change,' Golden said.

In lock-step with George W. Bush, John McCain has repeatedly voted for giving tax breaks to companies that move manufacturing plants out of the country. In early 2005, he helped defeat a Democratic measure that would have eliminated tax subsidies to corporations that move jobs out of the country. Barack Obama's support for that measure was one of his first as a Senator.

One person who benefited from the kinds of policies McCain has voted for was former Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos, billionaire co-owner of Amway. As a candidate, DeVos blamed the poor economy on Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, but when it was revealed that as the CEO of Amway he had used federal tax loopholes to help pay to move production facilities out of the country, costing Michigan as many as 1,300 jobs, his candidacy floundered.

McCain also strongly supports free trade deals like NAFTA, which economists have tied directly to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in Michigan. According to the Economic Policy Institute, Michigan has lost more than 60,000 jobs due to NAFTA alone. Those jobs, EPI estimated, were typically manufacturing jobs that would have paid an average of $800 per week in 2004.

In fact, John McCain has admitted defeat in trying to keep jobs in Michigan, telling one Michigan audience during the Republican primary that 'NAFTA was a good idea. Free trade is vital to the future of America. Have people lost jobs? Yes, they have, and they're gonna lose jobs.'

Meanwhile, John McCain and congressional Republicans blocked efforts to expand sorely needed unemployment benefits and expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which would have added tens of thousands of children of Michigan working families to the health insurance rolls.

The impact of the recession and Bush-McCain policies on Michigan has harmed the state's public education system as well. Republicans, who control the state senate, have blocked efforts at amending the state's 'flat tax' to increase revenues for public schools. Between 2007 and 2008, schools across the state saw state funding drop by about $400 per pupil.

Literally dozens of schools in Detroit have closed, while program cut backs across the state have seen Michigan children go without art, music, and some foreign language classes as well as other special programs. Teachers in the Grand Rapids Public Schools system are in their second year without a contract, while the system was forced to cut $2 million from its budget last year alone.

In addition to schools, budget cuts have also hurt public safety. The city of Ypsilanti earlier this years was forced to close part of its city police force and share public safety duty with the Washtenaw County sheriff as a result of budget shortages. Highland Park has gone without a fire department for several years.

So far the economic crisis in Michigan has led the state's voters to agree with Robin Given: it is time for change. Over the past few weeks, polls have shown consistent support for Barack Obama, with the most recent poll showing the Illinois Senator with a nine-point advantage. At least two Republican-held House seats in suburban areas are up for grabs.

The situation has made Michigan Republican nervous. At least two Republican Party officials in the last week or so alone have talked about race and the election in a way designed to appeal to racist voters while seeming to disapprove of racism. Michigan Republican Party boss Saul Anuzis told Dionne of the Post that he thinks Michigan voters are racist and Republican voters will cast votes for John McCain because of racism.

One Michigan Republican official told a local news Web site, The Michigan Messenger, that they planned to use a list of home foreclosures, obtained through a foreclosure specialist who has donated at least $100,000 to the McCain campaign, to challenge voters in Detroit on election day. The publicity led to a lawsuit by the Obama campaign and state Democrats calling for an injunction against using such a list.

Similarly, Republican operatives have been training loyalists on how to challenge voters on election day. They plan to use the state's draconian voter ID law that requires a state ID in order to cast a ballot. The state itself estimates that 370,000 eligible voters are excluded by the law

According to a new report by Common Cause, Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, a staunch Republican and former co-chair of the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign, told poll watchers they can even demand that a voter produce a second piece of picture ID if the poll watcher doesn't believe the ID photo looks enough like the voter.

Michigan voters are fighting back, however. The ACLU of Michigan has filed a lawsuit challenging the state's voter ID laws and has circulated a voter's rights flier. The Michigan AFL-CIO is actively campaigning to reach out to the state's 1.4 million union members households to educate them about their voting rights and mobilize them for the November 4th election.

In a recent statement encouraging participation in labor's election activities, Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney said, “Here in Michigan we have been battered by the Bush/McCain policy of rewarding companies that ship jobs overseas and providing tax cuts for the wealthy while working families struggle to pay their bills and put gas in their car.' Every one of those voters will be needed on election to ensure a victory for Barack Obama.