Romney taps hope for economy

Why did Romney trounce McCain in Michigan? Of the two, Romney expressed an audacious hope for our economy and manufacturing base.

He told a story people in Michigan hunger to hear and he made it personal. He was born here. His father headed up American Motors and was governor. His parents are buried here. He said we can be great again. He said that manufacturing doesn't have to die. He strode through the Detroit Auto Show, head high, son of the man who made the Rambler. He believes we can bring back all the jobs we have lost. He rode in on a white horse and promised to save us.

It's a fairy tale voters wanted to hear, needed to hear. Humans have an insatiable appetite for stories, symbols and myth. Humans need meaning. We want our lives to add up to something and narrative keeps us on track. We crave stories of hope in trying times, because facts can be devastating -- facts like Michigan's job loss over recent years.

When Romney says "all the jobs," does he mean the 400,000 lost since 1999 or just the 76,300 lost in 2007? McCain was more realistic and allowed that all the jobs cannot come back. That was not a winning narrative, even if it is the truth.

Perhaps Romney's win is the triumph of faith over reason.

Michigan's economic issues are the nation's issues. But is Michigan's candidate, the nation's candidate? Romney is framing the win as "a victory of optimism over Washington-style pessimism," already aiming for broader relevance. His strategy in Michigan was that of native son, coming home to rescue his people. Will the "native son" strategy backfire and be used against him, painting him as locally appealing but not nationally relevant? Can he translate this spot-on Michigan narrative into a national narrative?

To do this he may need to assert that the national economy is in dire straits. Recent data do point to a national recession having started in December of last year. Romney may need to do some truth-telling about global labor markets, corporate greed and unfair trade practices before he can present himself as the solution. Michigan's issues are national issues. But is the rest of the nation ready to admit they need to be saved by Mitt Romney?

A Sense of Place: Michigan Summer Reading

Guest post by Jennifer L. Walters, longtime part-time Michigan resident, and a dean at Smith College.

It’s mid-summer and time to put down whatever you’ve been reading to improve yourself and take a vacation. If you think all politics is local and aim to buy local and eat local, why not read local, too? There’s some great “Mich-lit” that will take you from Gogebic to Gratiot, from Lake Superior to River Rouge.

For fans of gritty urban mysteries, there’s nothing better than Elmore Leonard’s novels. Like David Mamet, Leonard advances the action through terse, economical “hard-boiled” dialogue. He’s written over 30 novels ranging from westerns to mysteries, and makes a little go a long way. Up in Honey’s Room, Out of Sight, Pagan Babies, Freaky Deaky, and Mr. Paradise will satisfy your taste for a walk on Detroit’s wild side.

Another Detroit dick, Amos Walker, from author Loren D. Estelman is also beach-worthy. Thrillingdetective.com describes Walker as “unapologetically old-fashioned, [and] defiantly politically-incorrect.” Nicotine Kiss, Retro and Poison Blonde are only three titles in that series of nineteen. Jon A. Jackson's books featuring Detroit homicide detective "Fang" Mulheisen are also a good bet.

Heading head west of Detroit you’ll find Lev Raphael’s mysteries. Raphael sheds a little light on academe’s underbelly with his crime-fighting untenured literature professor Nick Hoffman. Raphael’s first book in the Hoffman series was The Edith Wharton Murders. It now includes Tropic of Murder, Burning Down the House, Death of a Constant Lover, and Little Miss Evil.

If the U.P. is your preferred locale and you like sexy middle-aged former athletes with a history of failure and some old Detroit connections, you’ve got your choice of two PIs. Grady Service, Joseph Heywood’s DNR officer in the “Woods Cop” mystery series is a gritty fly-fishing former hockey player with a love of the deep woods. Service is an charming gumshoe in waders who’s happier tracking bear than bad guys. Heywood’s prose evokes the natural beauty of upper Michigan and its rich Native history and ethnic culture. Try Chasing a Blonde Moon and Blue Wolf in Green Fire.

The other U.P. detective is Alex McKnight – a former minor league catcher, former Detroit cop, and a PI who’d rather be doing something else, but doesn’t know what. His territory is the Soo. Steve Hamilton’s successful series is a quicker read than Heywood’s novels, with a focus more on plot than place, but you still get a feel for the north. His 1998 debut, A Cold Day in Paradise, won an Edgar and a Shamus award making Hamilton the first to win both for a first novel.

If mystery isn’t your genre, try Charles Baxter’s novels. Feast of Love, (a finalist for a National Book Award in 2000) is a quiet sweet novel about love set in contemporary Ann Arbor. To most people Michigan Stadium is Ann Arbor, but Baxter’s affection for the neighborhoods and its quirky inhabitants shines. His next novel, Saul and Patsy, tells a story of a young east coast couple who finds themselves in a small Michigan community named “Five Oaks.” Baxter is a mid-western writer – quiet, economical, and tender toward his characters.

And if you’re looking for some new Detroit fiction, Cass Tech and Wayne State graduate Cheryl Robinson’s R&R novels (romance and relationships) are garnering some attention. Try If it Ain’t One Thing, It’s Like That, and Sweet Georgia Brown.

This summer, while you’re looking for something to read on the back porch or at the beach, reach for some “Mich-lit” and rediscover something more to love about your state.