Romney Sticks

To the great disappointment of television “pundits,” Mitt Romney has survived. Commentators had an equally disappointed tone Tuesday evening upon being deprived of a spectacular “speech” from the native son deprived of his victory in Michigan – a defeat that would be followed by an earthquake in the Republican establishment. But nothing like that happened.

The former Massachusetts governor won a clear victory in Arizona (47.5 percent over 26.2 percent for Santorum). In Michigan, he won with 41.1 percent over 37.9 percent for Santorum (and 11.7 percent for Ron Paul).

It is another defeat for conventional thinking: The position Mitt Romney took against rescuing the auto industry in the New York Times in 2008 (charitably titled: “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt”) was supposed to cost him the victory. How can the child of Detroit, the son of a former automobile industry leader, have so little compassion? Michigan would surely take revenge. Besides, Rick Santorum had sponsored telephone calls (robocalls) to Democratic voters (who were authorized by Republicans to vote!), asking them to “punish” this ungrateful person.

Nothing like that happened, either.

According to exit polls, voters in favor of the “bailout” didn’t vote more for Santorum than for Romney. It is true that the media finally revealed that all the Republican candidates were against the Obama plan….

However, Mitt Romney’s position on cars could cost him votes in November. Sixty-one percent of Independents think that the bailout was a good idea.

Barack Obama hasn’t missed the chance to share his views. Coincidentally, he gave a speech Tuesday in front of the automobile union meeting in Washington. The President-candidate is not waiting until the party designates an opponent. He campaigns a little more each day.

He also constructed his speech: Forget the stimulus, the health care reform. The automobile is saved. Unemployment is going down. Businesses are creating jobs in the U.S. again.

Again though, it’s a little more complicated. Out of the $80 billion that went to the automobile industry, General Motors obtained $51 billion. The company repaid $24 billion. It is returning as the top automaker in the world, but there remains $23 billion to pay back. (The share price, which is at $26, must double in order to recoup the remaining portion, according to specialists.) Unemployment is slightly reduced. But according to these same specialists, it’s also because many have moved.