Lack of jobs a major issue for electorate in Michigan [View All]

[UpInArms]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/02/07/MNGGA4RBM31.DTL

Flint, Mich. -- Charlotte Spooner voted for George W. Bush in 2000.

Then her husband lost his job. Three times. Spooner, 42, who home-schools her children and regards herself as a conservative, hasn't decided which Democrat to support in today's Michigan caucus. But she is certain whom she will vote for in the general election in November.

"Anybody but Bush. Michigan is falling apart, and he don't care,'' Spooner said Friday.

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Meanwhile, manufacturing jobs -- the sort relied upon in places like Michigan, where the unemployment rate is 25 percent higher than the national average -- declined for the 42nd consecutive month.

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