(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-16 10:42

A mere 20 percent of eligible voters were expected to show up at polling stations across frigid and snowy Michigan; turnout was likely to be depressed by a Democratic race of little to no consequence.

Hillary Rodham Clinton was the only top contender on the Democratic ballot.

For Republicans, the stakes varied.

Of the three candidates competing hard here, Romney needed a Michigan victory the most to invigorate a campaign weakened by searing losses in Iowa and New Hampshire. He was the only one watching the voting returns in Michigan; his top Michigan opponents, McCain and Huckabee, campaigned in the state earlier in the day but left by afternoon to plant themselves in South Carolina, which votes Saturday.

Up for grabs in Michigan were 30 Republican delegates.

Romney, who has put at least $20 million of his personal fortune into his bid, campaigned in the state far more than his rivals and spent more than $2 million in TV ads in Michigan, nearly three times what McCain did, according to an analysis of presidential advertising by the nonpartisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network. McCain paid for more than $740,00 in ads and Huckabee spent more than $480,000.

A muddle from the start, the GOP race has grown ever more fluid as the first states voted over the past two weeks.

Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses, McCain prevailed in New Hampshire's primary, and Romney was second to both -- but claimed victory in scarcely contested Wyoming. Thompson is camping out in South Carolina looking for his first win. Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, is doing the same in Florida, which votes Jan. 29.

Romney was born and raised in Michigan, and his late father, George, was head of American Motors and a three-term governor in the 1960s. Romney announced his presidential candidacy in Michigan a year ago, campaigned in it far more than his rivals and spent considerably more money on advertising.

McCain had a built-in advantage of his own. He won the state's primary eight years ago on the strength of independent and Democratic-crossover voters, and he still had a network of hard-core backers. This year, McCain didn't have to compete full-bore for non-Republican voters because the Democratic race in Michigan was essentially a beauty contest. Six months after his campaign nearly collapsed, he now leads national polls.

Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, hoped to stage a surprise finish with the support of Christian evangelicals who live in the more conservative, western part of the state. With his populist pitch, Huckabee also wanted to do well in Reagan Republican country outside of Detroit. He came from behind to win the Iowa caucuses and sought another surprise finish in Michigan.

The economy dominated the weeklong Michigan campaign. The state has been reeling from the U.S. auto industry's downturn and has the nation's highest unemployment rate at 7.4 percent.

Michigan doesn't typically hold its primary until February but state party officials scheduled it earlier to try to give the state more say in picking a president. The Republican National Committee objected and cut the number of Michigan delegates to the national convention by half as punishment while the Democratic National Committee stripped the state of all 156 delegates to its national convention, including 28 superdelegates who would not have been bound by the outcome of the primary.

   1 2   

   1 2