Ruff said Obama’s appointment of Gov. Jennifer Granholm and former U.S. Rep. David Bonior to his transition panel of economic advisers is an indication of his attention to Michigan’s issues.

Obama will have to focus on Michigan because the state’s woes represent a bigger national economic problem of home foreclosures, unemployment and declining income, Ruff said.

“Michigan’s fortunes will be tied to the national economy,” Ruff said. “Auto manufacturing, like insurance and like banking, has a large national workforce and it produces wealth for people throughout the country.”

Megan Brown, a spokeswoman for Granholm, said the governor expects Obama to be a “partner” in addressing the state’s economic issues.

Among the issues the governor would like to see addressed, Brown said manufacturing, investing in “new energy jobs” and making health care affordable to Michigan families top the list.

At the same time, some of Obama’s decisions could be harmful to the state, Ruff said. Any policy to raise citizens’ taxes — regardless of their income level — could upset Michigan residents, who saw a large tax increase last year, he said.

In addition, he said, Obama’s support of reopening free trade agreements and subjecting other countries to the same regulations as U.S. workers could harm the state’s trade with Canada.

“Anything that puts a higher price for Canadians, or any other people, to buy American goods, is going to set our economy back, and more in Michigan than any other state,” he said.

Ruff said Obama’s Midwestern identity might be specifically beneficial to Michigan’s environmental interests, including the Great Lakes.

“He, obviously, (being) from Illinois, has knowledge of how precious that resource is to the upper Midwest,” he said.

Jordan Lubetkin, a spokesman for the nonpartisan group Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said the group is optimistic about Obama’s presidency.

Obama has supported Great Lakes initiatives in Congress and Lubetkin said he expects to see more of the same when Obama takes office. Specifically, he’d like greater funding for habitat restoration, cleanup of toxic sediments and new municipal wastewater infrastructure.

“We have successful programs on the books, but they have not been adequately funded under the last two terms,” Lubetkin said.

But while Michigan is sure to be on Obama’s radar, it will compete with many other issues for his attention.

“Presidents do rise above their home states when they go to the Oval Office,” Ruff said.

“It’s not as if (Obama) is going to be focused on the issues of one region of the country. He can’t afford to.”