Manufacturing and the US election

Mary Scheibel, a principal of Scheibel Halaska Inc., a Milwaukee-based marketing and public relations firm with clients in the plastics industry, posted an item in her blog yesterday about the importance of voting today. The post, "Tuesday's election will have impact on manufacturers," focuses on the health of of the U.S. manufacturing sector, and the impact of the government on the economy and attitudes. She writes: "as you go to the polls next Tuesday, I encourage you to vote for those individuals who not only recognize the importance of the manufacturing industry to our local, regional and national success - but who will provide the leadership necessary to position us to win in today's global economy." Here at K 2010 for more than a week, I've had the good fortune to miss all of the last-minute TV and radio ads from candidates. But I have had some good election-related discussions in Dusseldorf, including one on Sunday with the owner of a manufacturing company from Illinois. He's putting a lot of effort behind the Republican challenger in the race for Illinois governor. This is his first time to really get involved with a candidate -- raising money, offering advice. He feels this is a critical election, perhaps even moreso than the 2008 presidential race. In the past year I've talked to other company owners who feel the same. It will be interesting to see how this election turns out -- and how manufacturers react to the results in the near- and long-term.