Romney takes his first major win in Michigan primary

Last Updated: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 | 11:02 AM ET

CBC News

Republican Mitt Romney landed his first major primary victory in Michigan on Tuesday while Hillary Rodham Clinton took the Democrat title in a contest where she was the only major candidate entered.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, speaks to supporters at his Michigan primary election-night rally.
(Carlos Osorio/Associated Press)

The Michigan vote was touted as a make-or-break showing for the former Massachusetts governor, a Michigan native who needed to stave off another defeat at the hands of rival John McCain.

"It's a victory of optimism over Washington-style pessimism," said Romney, who landed about 39 per cent of the vote.  

"The people of Michigan said they believe in someone who is going to fight for them."

McCain, who revived his "Straight Talk Express" campaign earlier this month with a resounding victory in the New Hampshire primary, took second place with 30 per cent of the vote.

"I congratulate the governor. I just talked to him on the phone and congratulated him on his victory. Starting tomorrow, we're going to win South Carolina, and we're going to go on and win the nomination," said the 71-year-old Arizona senator.

Republicans in South Carolina vote on Sunday.

Meanwhile, former Arkansas governor and Baptist pastor Mike Huckabee — whose surprise victory in Iowa dealt a stunning blow to Romney — finished third. He took just 15 per cent of the vote.

Tuesday's vote in Michigan was open, which meant independents and Democrats could cast ballots for Republican candidates.

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain of Arizona concedes the Michigan primary as his wife Cindy McCain looks on in Charleston, S.C.
(Charles Dharapak/ Associated Press)

But such rules did not play to the maverick McCain's advantage as they did in the New Hampshire ballot, as well as eight years ago, when McCain defeated George W. Bush before seeing his campaign fortunes turn in favour of the eventual president in the South Carolina vote. 

Romney, 60, had emphasized his deep roots in the state where his late father, George Romney, served three terms as governor.

He pledged to revive the state's economy by focusing on reversing the fortunes of the Big Three automakers, whereas McCain offered a frank assessment that some of the jobs that have vanished from Michigan to foreign competitors "are not coming back."

Democratic reconciliation

Michigan's Democratic primary was complicated by a boycott by all the party's major candidates except New York Senator Clinton.

Democratic party leaders had stripped Michigan of all its delegates to the national convention for the state's decision to move the contest up from "Super Tuesday" on Feb. 5, when 20 states go to the polls.

The date was moved up over the objections of national party leaders to try to give the state more say in the selection of presidential candidates. The move also cost Michigan half its Republican delegates.

The Democratic candidates instead focused on the next contest in Nevada, also scheduled for Sunday.

The rival Democratic camps cooled their rhetoric Tuesday night after days of heated accusations fired between Clinton and candidate Barack Obama over the issue of race in the campaign, each declaring in a televised debate that the other had long supported civil rights.

Both blamed the rising animosity on sentiments from their supporters.

"We both have exuberant and sometimes uncontrollable supporters," Clinton said in the opening moments of a two-hour debate televised on MSNBC.

Obama agreed, saying they both had "supporters or staff who get overzealous. They start saying things that I would not say."

The two sides agreed that a prolonged clash over civil rights could harm their party's overall drive to win the White House.

Both parties are holding a series of caucuses and primaries in multiple states in the months leading up to national conventions in August and September, where the parties will select their candidates for the presidential election in November.