Let’s face it: Mississippi, with its six electoral votes, is not exactly high on the itinerary of presidential candidates of either party.

(That said, President Bush is planning a trip to our state to help campaign for Republican friend-in-high-places Haley Barbour.)

But we can certainly hope that political attention to manufacturing job losses &045; particularly in states whose electoral votes are important to the presidential campaign &045; will help us in Mississippi.

On Labor Day, Bush announced he is creating a government post to focus &uot;on the needs of manufacturers.&uot; The president blamed, in part, cheaper labor markets overseas for the job losses in manufacturing.

What good will this new position do? That’s hard to say. A lot of the damage from manufacturing losses &045; beginning even before NAFTA &045; has been done. Here in Natchez, of course, we’ve seen those jobs eroded, although they didn’t go overseas, they just went away altogether.

Is focusing on the problem now, when it’s an important political weapon, too little too late? Maybe not.

If it took a presidential election to call attention to the problem, that’s a sad statement on government.

But if this is what causes federal leaders to sit up and take notice of our economic plight, then we can’t quite complain.

Especially if this new position creates attention that more than keeps an eye on the problem but provides solutions for manufacturers and for communities hit hard by job losses.

If so, let’s hope it lasts longer than election season.