Recognizing that manufacturing is critical to the overall health of the American economy, far more important than even health care, finance and banking or high-tech industries, Americans are eager for the government to do more to protect that vital sector of the economy, according to a survey conducted by the Mellman Group and Ayres McHenry Associates for the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

The poll found that 85 percent of Americans believe that creating manufacturing jobs is either the most or a very important job for the policymakers in Washington.

Congressional Democrats, fearful of losing their majorities in the House and the Senate in November’s midterm elections, are prepared to turn their attention to the beleaguered manufacturing sector heading into the Fall election season, hoping that a laser-like focus on the vital industry will create jobs and draw a sharp contrast between Republicans.

Congressional leaders are slowly unveiling the “Making it in America” initiative, which they say is part of a long-term agenda to revive the industrial sector and put the economy on more solid footing in the future. It also doesn’t hurt that Democrats view the initiative as a chance to “produce easy bipartisan votes and boost their chances in the midterm elections,” according to Politico.

Once the engine that drove the nation’s powerful economy, America’s manufacturing base has been drastically reduced through failed trade policies. In 1980, around the time that globalization exploded and free trade agreements became more prevalent, the U.S. had 19.2 million manufacturing jobs. Since then, the sector’s total employment has fallen to just 11.6 million as jobs are outsourced to low-wage nations, like Mexico and China.

Many of those job losses occurred in Rust Belt states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, where tight races in evenly divided districts could decide the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives.

According to The Washington Post, Democratic leaders decided to shift the focus to manufacturing after realizing that there was very little support across the country for another round of stimulus spending.

However, they found a glimmer of hope in a little-watched special election to replace the late Democratic Representative John Murtha in his slightly Republican-leaning southwestern Pennsylvania congressional district. In that race, Democrat Mark Critz was able to pull out a victory largely by making the outsourcing of American jobs a major campaign issue.

Taking a page out of Crtiz’s playbook, Democrats have introduced a slew of bills designed to revitalize America’s manufacturing base. Many of the bills are paid for through closing tax loopholes for multinational corporations – an issue that is anathema to most Republican lawmakers.

Thus far, Democrats have introduced the following bills: The Ending the Trade Deficit Act, The Clean Energy Technology Manufacturing and Export Assistance Act, The Protecting American Patents Act, The National Manufacturing Strategy Act, U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act, American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010 and the Clean Energy Technology Manufacturing and Export Assistance Act.

Republicans have not been very receptive to the initiative, calling it blatantly political. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) said that the bills are “more meaningless than harmful,” according to The Washington Post.

Cantor and his Republican counterparts appear to be on the wrong side of the divide on this particular issue, though.

Support for manufacturing is truly a bipartisan cause, with a majority of Republicans (66 percent), Democrats (67 percent) and independents (64 percent) believing that “manufacturing is a critical part of the American economy and we need a manufacturing base here if this country and our children are to thrive in the future.”

“I want to walk into Target and see “Made in America” throughout the store. We can make it in America,” Rep. John Garamond (D-CA) said in a press release. “Middle-class wages in America have stagnated for three decades, and our country’s future success depends on bringing back good manufacturing jobs.”

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