Poll shows residents love Michigan but its headed in wrong direction

This appeared in the July 17 edition of the Detroit Free Press, and it really sums up Mike’s beliefs that a diverse, expanding economy will produce non-exportable high skilled, high wage jobs to Michigan. The current Legislature is too focused on helping special interests instead of trying to find a solution to the serious, structural problems that plague our beloved state, and Mike will welcome anyone to the table who has a suggestion or plan to help solve the problem, instead of freeing out more than half of the state’s population that’s happening now.
As the poll shows, our state is headed in the wrong direction under this Legislature and its leadership.

To use a metaphor befitting the Great Lakes State, the people of these peninsulas are well aware that our collective boat is in both bad shape and rough waters. But they would rather see it repaired and righted than jump overboard for the promise of smoother sailing elsewhere.

That's one way, metaphorically speaking, to sum up the sentiments of state residents when asked about Michigan in the inaugural Detroit Free Press-Local 4 Michigan poll.

Leave? Heck no. Much as we grouse about our state, it's also our home. Let's fix it.
Attachment to place is not of itself unusual. Gulf Coast residents couldn't wait to flock back after Hurricane Katrina, even though there wasn't much left to flock to. What's interesting about Michigan, according to the poll, is the overwhelming belief, 70 percent, among residents, that this state is headed in the wrong direction. Almost a third would even describe it as "a dying state." Yet 88 percent agree with the statement: "I love Michigan." And 60 percent say they would be willing to make some kind of short-term sacrifice -- for example, paying more taxes or losing a public service from which they benefit -- if they were convinced it would move the state economy forward.

Therein lies a message for political leaders who have been unwilling to date to address the structural deficit in the state budget, preferring gimmicks and onetime fixes to keep the books balanced and enacting far too many laws and loopholes that meet the needs of special interests instead of a fiercely loyal population. These people can handle tough choices if they are convinced that the interests of their beloved state are being served.

And they also grasp that the Michigan of history, the economic powerhouse that put the world on wheels, is, in fact, history. The state's wrenching economic transition has personally touched many of them. In the survey, a stunning 66 percent said they, someone in their family or someone they know well has been laid off in recent years because of the economy; 43 percent said they were worried about their jobs.
Yet 60 percent have not even considered leaving Michigan, and only a third are certain their children will leave -- one of the emerging issues in this year's political races. The survey shows overwhelming recognition among state residents that education can no longer be undervalued and that new, nonautomotive businesses and a major expansion of tourism are the key to a prosperous future.

What's it all mean?

That for all its troubles, Michigan has something special on which to build a future: this loyal population willing to roll up its collective sleeves and do what it takes to chart a new course. That there is broad acknowledgement that the state's future cannot be found in its past, when a high school diploma or even less was good enough for a factory job with benefits. That there is an appetite for bold leadership, new partnerships and drastic solutions. People want to make things happen, not wait for them to happen.