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ROCHESTER HILLS -- Michigan's flagging auto industry can regain its world prominence by investing in new technologies and the federal government can help with tax breaks, incentives and worker retraining programs, John McCain said Wednesday.
After a free-wheeling, 75-minute town hall meeting with about 700 people on the Oakland University campus, the Republican presidential candidate told The Detroit News that he thinks he can win Michigan in November with his action plan to revitalize the state's automotive might.
"You have to care for displaced workers, give them education and training that works so they have another chance to be part of the economy," McCain said.
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"And you invest in the cradle of the auto industry, new technologies, such as the battery that lets you take a car 100 miles before you have to plug it in. We have to provide all the incentives, for investment in pure R&D as well as R&D tax breaks, worker retraining and education and reduction in any taxes that may give other areas an unfair advantage."
He said "the automotive industry in this state is not finished."
State Democrats fired back that McCain's inaction on some of these policies and his support of unfair trade agreements are among the reasons this state's economy is in trouble.
Members of the Michigan AFL-CIO and other groups protested the McCain appearance outside the town hall meeting.
Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney said his union will remind voters often between now and the November election that McCain supports national right-to-work measures; voted for free-trade agreements that have sent jobs abroad; and promotes a health care plan that would tax benefits.
"Our best approach is going to be his record, which is quite anti-worker, anti-middle class, anti-union," Gaffney said. "We will hoist him on his own petard," Gaffney said.
During the town hall session, McCain said he would "never agree to any proposal" to divert water from the Great Lakes to dry states such as his home, Arizona.
"People who live in the Great Lakes states should decide what happens to their water," he said in response to an audience question.
While McCain's position on water diversion is sure to be popular in Michigan, his advocacy of improved fuel economy standards may not go over so well here, the candidate admitted.
A GM retiree attending the town hall meeting asked: "Are we evil for making large cars?"
"No, sir," McCain said. "But with hybrids and technology and improvements we can make with alternative fuels ... we can compete with anybody in the world."
Under tough questioning from the audience, McCain poked fun at his reputation for having a quick temper, and tried to turn it to his favor.
"How dare you ask that question!" chuckled McCain, nicknamed "Senator Hothead" by some publications.
He said he does get mad -- about corruption and runaway spending in Washington. "You know something? The American people are angry, too, and they're not going to take it anymore," he said.
McCain lost the Jan. 15 GOP primary to native Michiganian Mitt Romney.
In his interview with The News, McCain attributed his primary loss here to "Gov. Romney running a more effective campaign in Michigan than I did."
Will he offer Romney a chance to be his running mate?
"We're going through the process but I very much appreciate that (Romney) has earned a large role for himself in the Republican Party," McCain said.
