McCain to visit Mich. in search of support, funds

The quote from Nat Ehrlich should have read “Twenty-five percent of the (MSU) students that picked McCain the first go-around have now switched to Obama.”

The story should have read “Likewise, 13 percent of Obama’s student supporters consider themselves Republicans,” he said.

As Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., plans to visit metro Detroit on Wednesday and Thursday, the visit’s potential effect on the votes of MSU students remains unclear.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee will fly into Michigan Wednesday evening and address the state of the economy in a town hall-style meeting on Thursday, according to the Detroit Free Press. As of Monday, details on the time and place have not been released, the article said.

During what is considered a “dead period” in the presidential campaign, McCain’s visit, his first since early May, will probably serve more to raise campaign funds and solidify a volunteer base for after September’s Republican National Convention, said Paul Abramson, an MSU political science professor.

“Part of the reason is to build up his base so that he’ll have people who’ll be willing to work for the ticket in the fall,” he said.

A survey of 297 MSU students conducted in June by MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Survey Research shows McCain’s approval rating at 29 percent among students, trailing the rating of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., by 42 percent.

Nat Ehrlich, a research specialist for the institute, said the most interesting aspect is to notice trends among the seven surveys conducted since last November.

“Twenty-five percent of the (MSU) students that picked McCain the first go-around have now switched to Obama,” he said.

Ehrlich said he “would not be surprised at all” if McCain’s visit this week increased his approval rating among MSU students.

But Abramson said the meeting will probably have little impact on the opinions of MSU students unless the candidate were to appear on campus.

“Of the two candidates, (McCain) is the less extreme and I’m kind of a moderate,” said John Paul Severin, an MSU packaging senior. “Barack Obama represents a very extreme, liberal point of view.”

Severin added he would attend the event if he did not have other plans. At the very least, McCain will sway a few voters in his favor, he said.

Autumn Prince, an MSU social work sophomore, said she respects McCain but, as a Democrat, doesn’t agree with his position on the war in Iraq and would not go see him.

“He probably just wants to try and reach out to the supporters that are there,” she said.

Data reveals that 23 percent of MSU students who consider themselves Democrats will vote against their party affiliation for McCain, Ehrlich said in an e-mail. Likewise, 13 percent of Obama’s student supporters consider themselves Democrats, he said.

Amy Ham, a second-year MSU law student, said she would love to go see McCain. For Ham, the fact that McCain hasn’t visited Michigan in about two months makes sense.

“There was so much publicity in the Democratic race that it just made a lot of sense for him to keep a low profile and let the Democrats work their thing out and then try and pick things back up once they weren’t being so dramatic,” she said.