As I write this entry, I don’t know how Arizona Sen. John McCain will fare in the Republican presidential primary in Michigan on Tuesday, January 15. But one thing is certain: He has put on the campaign agenda the issue of retraining workers who have lost their jobs because of global economic competition.

Like many of the things McCain says and does, this is unusual for a Republican. He should be given credit for leveling with voters in a state that has been hammered by setbacks to the auto industry.

Instead of reflexively promoting the GOP palliative for any kind of economic woe—tax cuts—he’s advocating help for those who are left behind when technology and trade diminish their livelihood.

“Let’s have a little straight talk: There are some jobs that aren’t coming back to Michigan,” McCain said in the January 10 Republican debate in South Carolina. “But we’re going to take care of them. That’s our goal.”

He’s calling for community colleges to develop curricula that will give workers a chance to prepare for a new profession.

“We’re not going to end somebody’s career and life of productivity at age 35 or 40 or older,” McCain said. “We’re going to design education and training programs that meet the needs of this information technology revolution that we are in.”

For a contrast to McCain’s approach, and a more typically Washington way of looking at the problem, you can turn to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He is running as a Washington “outsider.” But his economic ideas sound as if they’re coming from inside the Beltway.

In the South Carolina debate, he listed federal priorities for preventing a recession: stopping the housing crisis; reducing taxes on “middle-income Americans”; and lowering gas prices through energy independence.

But it was his fourth recommendation that caught my eye: “And, finally, R&D investment in science and technology. That’s an area where America can continue to lead the world.”

That’s true. And Washington needs to do all it can within reasonable budget constraints—and short of instituting industrial policy—to promote science and technology.

But the focus in Washington on preparing students for STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) careers tends to crowd out concern for unemployed incumbent workers.

Romney followed up his four-point plan with this gauzy bromide for those about to be thrown out of work: “I’m going to fight for every single job, Michigan, South Carolina, every state in this country.”

As McCain pointed out, some of those jobs are destined to go to another region of the United States—or overseas—and never return. People who previously had them must develop new skills for the jobs that will take their place.

McCain may not win his party’s nomination, let alone get to the White House. But I hope the retraining issues that he’s brought to the fore, for the first time by anyone in the campaign, are embraced by the next president.