Here at ManufactureThis, we're rather singularly focused on revitalizing U.S. manufacturing.  And why is that, you may ask?  Because manufacturing drives an economy.  It provides a strong value-added benefit for other sectors of the economy.  It creates jobs.

We took a bit of interest in yesterday's first-ever Presidential hopefuls debate on Twitter.  We wanted to see if any of the candidates talked about job creation, manufacturing, or infrastructure investment.

The six participants were: Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Gary Johnson, and Thaddeus McCotter.

A brief review of the debate transcript reveals that the candidates seem pretty fired up on two issues: repealing "Obamacare," and cutting government spending.

As we've pointed out before, the American people are clamoring for job creation.  Before anything else, they want Washington to get busy with initiatives to produce good Middle Class jobs right now.

Anyway, here's what a review of the Twitter debate shows:

• Michele Bachmann wants "consitutional principles" and "fiscal sanity."
• Newt Gingrich says he wants to "return America back to job creation and balanced budgets."
• Thaddeus McCotter astutely mentioned China: "communist China claims the 21st Century. At home, R 14 mil unemployed; 30+ mil underemployed; inflation up; real wages down."
• Herman Cain says his "40-year record as a job creator & a solutions-oriented leader makes me a unique & qualified candidate to be America’s CEO."
• Rick Santorum says "Obamacare threatens the soul of America."
• Gary Johnson says that as governor he "vetoed 750 bills, cut taxes 14 times & left the state with a $1 billion budget surplus."

What does all this have to do with job creation?

Well, kudos to Thaddeus McCotter for raising the China issue.  As an Economic Policy Institute (EPI) study found,the U.S. trade deficit with China has cost more than 2.4 million jobs since 2001.

And as for manufacturing, there was only one mention in the entire debate-- and it was from Rick Santorum: "A 0% corp tax rate on all manufacturing, cut regulations and drill for oil and gas."

So there you have it, that's where the GOP candidates' heads are at right now.

If you're reading this, and you're supportive of any of these candidates, please urge them to review the Alliance for American Manufacturing's (AAM) plan for a national manufacturing strategy.  These are concrete steps that need to be taken now to rebuild U.S. industy and create jobs.