Romney Wins on Economic Woes

Mitt Romney campaigned in Michigan as a favorite son, but he beat John McCain by persuading voters he could bring jobs back to the beleaguered state, the Wall Street Journal reports. Romney sold himself as a business executive who could end Michigan's  "one-state recession." He was quick to jump on McCain's suggestion that lost jobs "are not coming back," and his aggressive optimism struck a resounding chord .

Exit polls showed that economic woes were the chief concern of a majority of voters. McCain's national security credentials and stand on the Iraq war were well received, but voters went for what the Washington Post calls Romney's "can-do message on jobs and the economy."  And they got an assist when "McCain sent a rhetorical softball over the fat part of Romney's plate." (More Michigan stories.)