McCain stumps for auto industry votes
McCain stumps for auto industry votes
Automotive News | September 5, 2008 – 10:46 pm EST
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John McCain |
DETROIT — Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain rallied support from Michigan Republicans today in a 35-minute appearance with presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Surprisingly, the question of whether the government should support General Motors, Ford and Chrysler with guaranteed loans for r&d efforts did not come up during the appearance. Michigan now is considered a key battleground state in the 2008 election against Illinois Democrat Barack Obama.
But fresh from the national convention, McCain and Palin tonight repeated the themes of the past few days at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota.
Retired Ford Motor Co. plant manager Rich Tepper said John McCain has his support.
“Senator McCain’s strategy is right on,” Tepper said. “We have to drill now because oil is the major commodity that drives the (national) economy, and the global economy.”
Tepper believes that the McCain energy strategy — developing nuclear energy, clean coal as well as immediate off-shore drilling — is simply common sense.
“It doesn’t matter what party you support,” he said. “That’s just a common sense strategy and it’s what our nation needs.”
Neither McCain nor Palin addressed the federal low-interest loans proposed to assist the Detroit 3 in research and development and retooling, but Tepper said he’s confident that the Republican presidential candidate will be working with them.
“He’s going to have meetings with the leaders of the Detroit 3, and the Detroit 3 knows they have to borrow money,” Tepper predicted. “It’s r&d, it costs a lot of money.”
Chris Pritts, a retired Ford engineer, agreed that McCain has the better policies to support Detroit automakers.
“I think the things Obama would do would be dangerous for the industry,” Pritts said. He named more government and more corporate taxes as being harmful.
In his closing remarks, McCain said he knows that to win the election, he needs to win the state of Michigan.
“I need you to get out the vote,” McCain said. “We may not agree from time to time on a specific issue but I will promise you this: I will never let you down and I will always, always put my country first.”
