If you remember nothing else, please remember this – it will be on the test – in the words of political Great and former House Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill – all politics is local. Even if your personal politics are of a different flavor than Tips, his words ring truer and truer as we move deeper into the 21st Century.

Since all politics are local then let’s talk jobs and the economy. National prosperity is the result of humming regional economies, and according to experts, many US regions aren’t doing so well. One of those regions happens to be the old Rust Belt States.

From Buffalo to Pittsburgh and St. Louis to Detroit, local economies are barely creaking by hemorrhaging jobs and talent at an alarming rate that is affecting the productivity of the entire nation. The region is graying, twenty-something’s are choosing not to return and once well-established towns are becoming default retirement communities.

But there is a strategy that will return vitality to this region. A Brookings Institution study finds that by investing in restoration efforts, the United States would effectively jump start the Great Lakes expanse’s economy, providing new jobs and innovative industries that would pay back the original investment two fold. John Austin, one of the report’s authors recently told ABC News that all the presidential candidates should focus on nurturing regional economies.

Now, let’s throw in a bit of strategy – the next president will have to deliver eight Great Lakes states and the 141 electoral votes these states control.

“The Great Lakes area is key to anyone winning the Presidency,” said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the number four Democrat in the House and noted political strategist.

Bruce Katz, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings told ABC that this is a critical moment for the nation’s economy – the federal investment in our competitiveness is missing a very important element – a regional focus. “The next president should recognize the Great Lakes region’s national economic importance and adopt policies that speed its economic transition and growth.”

Really it is a win-win, local jobs win local votes and generate economic growth that spreads prosperity across the United States, and therefore, local politics are national politics.

Related posts:

• An Open Letter to the 2008 Presidential Candidates
• Presidential Candidates Take Note: Great Lakes Restoration a Recipe for Economic, Electoral Success
• Political Will Power
• As Great Lakes Governors Throw Down the Gauntlet, Which Presidential Candidate Will Respond?
• Governors to Presidential Candidates: Support Great Lakes Restoration