They Love Us, Then They Leave Us

ABC News’ John Berman and Ursula Fahy Report: "Do you think you will come back here after the primary?" 

That was the question posed to us by Ray Engeling of Grand Blanc, Michigan.  It’s a question that might have been meant as a pleasantry, but it is also loaded with meaning for the media and the Republican presidential candidates.

Ray was among a group of six men who get together for coffee every morning at the Big Boy diner in Grand Blanc.  They talk about sports, life, investments, whatever.  But lately, it seems, the subject dominating their discussion is the economy, and just how bad it is in Michigan.

"We’ve seen the auto industry have its ups and downs but it always recovers," said 77-year-old Dick Pearson, who retired after working for GM for decade, "but there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.  They’re tearing the factories down, they’re history."

We spoke to Dick, Ray and their friends to get an idea of how they view the presidential campaign, which is just finishing up its whistle-stop in Michigan. 

All the Republican candidates shifted the rhetoric of their campaigns when arriving in Michigan to focus almost exclusively on the Michigan economy.  Sure they talked a little about the economy and jobs before, but nothing like the outpouring of empathy they heaped on Michigan once they were asking for votes.  And that is why the men at the Big Boy were taking it all with a grain of salt.

"I’m pretty reluctant to believe everything they say,” says Jim Allen, a retired electrician.  “They’re trying to get elected.  They’re telling us what we want to hear.”

It’s hard to imagine, that when the campaign moves to, say, California, that Mitt Romney will be talking about onerous environmental regulations, or complaining about CAFÉ standards for more fuel efficient cars.  It is hard to imagine that John McCain will talk about job retraining when he tries to rally support among military pensioners in South Carolina.

Spike Pearson who works in commercial real estate says, “we’re all so skeptical, we feel like we’ve been forgotten.”

They were an incredibly welcoming bunch, grateful and excited to share a coffee, and eager to make a joke. 

But there was a sadness to them too, “nobody among us has a solution, or recommendation even,” said Spike, “We need jobs in the worst way.”

The group was split down the middle between Romney supporters and McCain supporters.  The Romney backers were impressed by his business credentials.  The McCain supporters liked what they call his “straight talk.” 

All of the men were grateful for the brief national spotlight shining on Michigan.  But all of the men shared the sentiments of Ray Engeling, who worked for General Motors for more than 40 years, when he asked quietly, “do you think you will come back here after the primary?”