In Ohio, China is a Potent Campaign Weapon
When Mitt Romney comes to Ohio, he likes to talk about a far-away threat that hangs over anxious crowds. “Look, we can compete with any nation in the world so long as we’re playing on a level playing field,” Romney said Thursday, standing amid propane tanks before more than 3,000 supporters at an industrial plant north of Columbus. “And I’m going to make sure China doesn’t cheat.”
Such rhetoric has been a staple of Romney’s campaign, not least for its impact in the Midwestern states he needs to capture the presidency. If the presidential election is boiling down to Ohio, the outcome will hinge partly on the candidates’ tack toward China. The rising superpower is a ubiquitous bogeyman in the Buckeye State, a byword for the economic unrest that swept across Ohio over the past decade as the Midwest’s manufacturing engines sputtered and factory jobs moved overseas.
U.S. exports to China have boomed during the Obama administration, and the President has done more than past presidents to protect U.S. trade interests, including imposing tariffs on Chinese solar panels and tires. Obama touted the latter move at the candidates’ foreign policy debate this week, a gesture designed to appeal to Ohio voters. “Obama has really taken a tough position – maybe it’s a position few Americans understand – on China,” says Tim Burga, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO.
So it goes in the nation’s most important swing state. Twice, Obama has used campaign swings to Ohio to announce new filings with the World Trade Organization that complained about Chinese trade practices. “It’s a symbolic issue. For Ohio workers especially, the outsourcing of jobs is a deep concern, and has been for years,” says Paul Beck, a political scientist at Ohio State University. “So both campaigns are attacking China and blaming the other side for being too soft.”
http://swampland.time.com/2012/10/26/in-ohio-china-is-a-potent-campaign-weapon/
All romney has is rhetoric though he may be getting some mileage out of that in Ohio. But Obama "has done more than past presidents to protect U.S. trade interests..." That should count for more with voters than some lofty rhetoric that does not jibe with romney's history.
And romney is smart to focus on the "far-away threat". I am sure he hopes that this 'threat' distracts voters from the "near-to-us" threat that our own 1% represents. "Pay no attention to the rich guy behind the curtain. Look over there! China is stealing from you!"
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