Primary Day in Michigan

Today was the presidential primary in Michigan.  I wasn't too excited to vote because voting uncommitted against Hillary wasn't too motivating...so if I had made it to the polls I would have voted in the Republican primary.  I would have voted for McCain.  I like that he's generally moderate and isn't afraid to go against the party base to do what he thinks is right.  Romney could be interesting as generally competent and a successful businessman, but I can't get past his desire to "double Guantanamo".  More on Romney later.  In a similar way, I could have been interested in Giuliani as a competent administrator, but he seems to be too much of a warmonger.  Huckabee appears to be likeable and can at least admit that waterboarding is torture, but I'm afraid there isn't enough substance behind his likeable tv personality and am disturbed by talk of amending the constitution to God's standards (link).  Thompson?  Whatever.  Paul?  Could be interesting if he weren't so extreme.

An article in today's Washington Post by Juliet Eilperin and Michael D. Shear contrasts McCain's and Romney's approaches to campaigning in Michigan.  Not that McCain has never pandered, but Romney is over the top:

Mitt Romney said Monday that as president he would ease fuel-efficiency standards and spend billions more in federal money to bolster struggling automakers...

McCain, on the other hand,

...took a different approach, continuing to deliver the kind of hard truths he believes are essential to mobilizing the independents...

At every stop, he went out of his way to make comments unpopular with many Republicans, saying he does not support drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and giving them "straight talk" by vowing that if elected he would never allow torture. The audience applauded heartily at that, even though his position runs counter to the way many in his party view controversial interrogation tactics.

McCain also told reporters that any candidate who says traditional auto manufacturing jobs "are coming back is either naive or is not talking straight with the people of Michigan and America." Instead, he said, business and political leaders should "embrace green technologies," adding: "That's the future. That's what we want."