Stabenow focuses on economy
2006-10-03
Source: The Detroit News
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rss feedClearly, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow understands The Issue: a way of life that is slipping through the fingers of middle-class Michiganians because well-paying manufacturing jobs are moving away.
Her re-election challenge is to convince Michigan's economically battered voters that she's part of the solution, rather than the problem. It's an ideological yoke that she shares with fellow Democrat Jennifer Granholm, who is running on the same platform in her campaign for re-election as governor.
The emphasis for both women is rightly placed on the economy, which Detroit News/WXYZ-TV polls identify as the top issue facing the nation and the state. "Unfortunately, under President Bush, we're facing a threat to our way of life, a threat to the middle class," said Stabenow. "People are being squeezed on all sides, and we've got to say enough is enough."
If she wins a second term this fall, Stabenow promises to focus "like a laser" on improving access to health care for families and cutting health costs for companies, aiding the state's manufacturing base by setting up a federal office to prosecute unfair trade by foreign governments, and shielding retirements by bolstering federal protection for private pension plans.
Sending her opponent, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, to Washington won't get that done, Stabenow argues. And although polls show Stabenow is so far winning that argument -- she led Bouchard 53-34 percent in the latest Detroit News poll, and other polls also have shown her with a substantial lead -- hers is one of the few Senate races seen by national analysts as a potential pickup for Republicans this fall.
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