I don't hate any politician or candidate on a personal level, but I do hate what money and greed is doing to our society and our government. And I don’t support any person who aids and abets the theft of our rights by the moneyed elite in order to further their own self interests.
I think Brian Calley is yet another politician who will help the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class. I suspect he’s yet another silver-tongued con artist who will pretend to care about you just enough to get your vote and then go on his merry way sucking up to PACs and lobbyists in Lansing and elsewhere, ignoring the ordinary voters in his district who gave him the job. This anger is not directed personally at Mr. Calley (since a few of the other candidates in the race are likely to do the same once in Lansing- it's just that they don't have quite as good a chance at getting there as Calley). It's anger about the privileges he has been given, the playing field that’s not level, tilted toward his candidacy because of behind the scenes efforts of special interests and wealthy GOP insiders.
Notice Calley, a banker and the son of a doctor, already has been handed the endorsement of the doctors’ lobby. I’ve heard he has won the blessing of Right to Life, despite the fact at least two of his primary opponents, notably King James Bailey and Susan Vlietstra, are about as Pro-Life as you can get. Special interests have been lining up behind Calley, just like they backed his predecessor, Gary Newell, eventually turning a six-person primary contest into anything but a fair fight. Just ask Bailey (whose said to be incensed that Calley is lining up all the big money he apparantly thought would fall to him) and Frank Campbell, who dropped out of the race because he saw he couldn’t compete with Calley’s awesome arsenal crafted by a backroom deals and marketing schemes hatched privately long before this race even began.
Calley himself is affable enough, and he’s an excellent schmoozer. But when I saw that two-page “story” written by Calley himself and published on Father’s Day by the Ionia Sentinel-Standard (pictured above), my blood boiled at the sight of yet another scheme to give the “anointed” one a free advertisement, a huge advantage that will not be offered to the other five candidates. This poor excuse for journalism expressed naked and excessive support for the front-runner, the local boy and banker from Portland who is well off enough to take a rumored three-month leave of absence to campaign full time while the other working stiffs are putting up their signs only on weekends and weekday evenings.
My huge problem with Brian Calley is that he has been handed this district on a silver platter by party hacks and wealthy backers who are adept at marketing a young man with boyish good looks, lotsa charm and ambitions to go higher, to the state senate, congress and maybe even the U.S. Senate. It’s really nice to be the chosen one, while all the others, regardless of their credentials or skills in the political arena, will only pick up the crumbs because these days slick marketing trumps creative ideas to solve problems. The system has broken down badly, and Brian Calley’s campaign is just an annoying reminder of what’s wrong with modern America, which pays attention to marketing and appearances rather than substance and possibilities.
Brian Calley is probably a nice guy, but to me he’s just another PAC-powered politician who courts the right wing hate mongers and hyper-capitalists who seek to divide the country to enact their own extreme agenda. I have made my apology to Mr. Calley for my earlier error about him in this space. I fess up to my mistakes. I understand Mr. Calley told Banner Editor David Young he plays his cards “face up.” That’s easy to do when you’ve been dealt the very best hand and everyone else in the game is holding crap. It’s nothing personal, but I won't be voting for Mr. Calley in August. I'm asking the rest of the voters of the 87th district to join me. That's not anger, that's democracy.
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24 comments:
what I don't get is how being a member of the NRA and RTL is going to get him far in a race where 2/3 of the candidates are also flying the same colors. To voting republicans they are nothing more than a pause for station identification, or a bank being a member of the FDIC. Show me one that isn't.
Sure he has the full faith and credit of the GOP but they are going to have to play a different game this season. Big money from PACS doesn't go over too well these days. (thank you Tom Delay)
Most of the republicans I talk to are undecided about showing at the polls.
There is only one thing they are sure they want, and that is a swift defeat of the millage requests.
agnosticrat:
Having the endorsement is recognition you can leverage. By Calley geeting RtL, he got access to their mailing list. A whole group of single issue voters primed for the taking. He'll also be on the agenda on many a Sunday pulpit before the election.
It's mattered in recent races too, most notably the Fekkes/Doherty Probate Judge race. By Doherty having the RtL endorsement, he could communicate to a group of voters that Fekkes would have had a hard time reaching. And that race was non-partisan.
Jim, Susan, and Wade can rant and rave all they want about how RtL they are, but without the gold star of an endorsement, it's not gospel.
Pol:
Calley has left his job (not rumor) to campaign 24/7. He says so on his website and the bank will tell you the same thing. Specifically, the girl I talked to said "he quit to campaign".
Pre-Primary campaign finance reports are due in early July. It will be interesting to see what the various candidates report. Of course it would be an earth shattering first if the lethargic local press reports the information.
Thanks Jay, for straightening me out.
Apparently K. Rove is alive and well in the 87th.
Calleys' platform is paper thin.
Like Pol said: RTL, and NRA.
The rest is just spin from the home office.
His website says he is for small buisiness, well I haven't seen anyone come out against it.
You got a plan Brian?
SBT? That seems to be the rail most republicans are hopping onto. Course the wheat, and chaff go seperate directions when coming up with a replacement. Or are you likely to just leave a hole in the budget, and leave the responsible legislators figure out what to cut? Nobody wants to be the one to tell the electorate that they will have to do without even more services. John Englers playbook is open and being read.
Just woke and ran for coffee and newspapers. Saw Jim Bailey sign, "barf" "barf"!
The Ionia article on Calley sickens me. I profess to not being much of a political analyst, but I am learning much on this blog. I do have things to say as an expert in certain elements of government, and when I speak on them you can even take them to the Hastings City Bank!
It can't be stated any better than the Pol does above. He said everything on my mind, but does it much more eloquently. Calley types need to be snuffed out from any Governmental service, it's our only chance to revive Michigan and the Country (and, for gosh sakes, don't do it Hoffa style, they will spend millions of dollars trying to find pretty boy Floyd, but not your child).
There have been so many responses on here, I'm believing it's the talk of the "Ville."
One indicated Ionia had no Barry reps for something they silver-spooned to Calley? My question, as a political novice, is why should he be invited to OUR debates! It's the right thing to do, you say. Well, shouldn't that have applied in Ionia.
My vision would be to elect a New Barry County Board that, over the next few years, would form a coalition with the Ionia County Board. We obviously have mutual concerns and borders such as School Districts that overlap (Woodland). It will take leadership beyond the Clare/James capabilities.
Maybe Bailey is in cahoots with Calley? Maybe Calley's bank gives more than .5% and better services. Maybe Bailey is trying to spread the votes so that Calley ("hate" to even say the name)can easily win? There have been stranger bed fellos.
Is Ionia so naive as to not have "barfed" when they saw the "free" political story on "father Calley." How much of a father will he be when he is away in Lansing, or God forbid, Washington someday! His child will be a latchkey or mommies/nannies little boy!
Sometimes I think Jay is the one who should be writing the blog!
And Agnosticrat, as always, has it right- it's not about the SBT, it's about what replaces the SBT! While I think it is a mistake to throw the baby out with the bathwater (the SBT could be easily tweaked so it wasn't a disincentive to hire new workers or buy new equipment) I think that Granholm and the Dems are caving on this and the real issue will be "now what." If Calley and DeVos aren't willing to answer the question and seem willing to leave another gaping hole in our revenue stream then they shouldn't get our votes.
crickets....
Pol--
Just heard Fulton Sheen say it didn't matter if we had a replacement before the elimination of SBT because when the "cut and capped" in '94 (Proposal A) the legislature worked under a deadline to figure out the best solution. ---------------What a load of B.S. They brought in a patch that worked for the short term. That's exactly what the term-limited idiots will do in this case, provide a patch for the damn and the future be damned.
What is hurting us more than the SBT is term-limits and "made-to-measure" ballot proposal bought and paid for by the special interests.Due to term-limits we have seen a decline in well thought out, long term public policy (reform of the judiciary, drain code, taxation, etc.). Since the pols have no institutional memory and are too worried about moving on to the next rung on the ladder, nothing substantive gets done. So special interests buy their way onto the ballot, doing what the legislature is unable to do ("Fire the Senate", being grassroots and totally driven by volunteerism is the exception to the rule), in turn, making the legislature even more ineffective. It's allowed people from California dictate our public policy, led to less bi-parisanship, and inane regulations.
We've seen allegations of obfuscation and outright fraud being alleged swirling around the MCRI proposal.
Until we say enough, the cycle will continue.Wade really isn't the answer--(I like you man, but even if you did get elected you'd either be a loner or a parriah on the floor) it requires a much more drastic overhaul like a constitutional convention.
Only then can we get enough a correction to get true reform through the legislature. Realistically, I don't think it'll happen in my lifetime.
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Pol--
I'd love to be a correspondant for this blog, but you already have the James Bond mistique, that I can't compete. I am just enough of a state legislature nerd to understand what is required to win. It requires time. Only Calley has invested the time. It requires money--which Calley has. It requires manpower--check there for Calley too. That's why he's going to win.
My next prediction is that Newell will endorse Calley. Scuttlebutt says that he's fuming so much over Bailey's last minute entry that he'll be making the announcement around/after the 4th of July.
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If anyone from the Banner is reading this:
You can ask the candidates to send you a copy of their campaign finance report before they file with the State (county clerk for Julie & Tom) on the 28th of July (whoever said "early July" is wrong), 23rd is the close of books.
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/2006_143841_7.pdf
Pre-planning is sweet.
Couldn't sleep...so I came on over to the WeMIP blog. I have no life. Looking at that article...god it's big. Does he have to claim that as advertising on his campaign finance reports? This is quite the donation by the Sentinel-Standard. I wonder... Let's see if they'll give Reynolds the same collumn space. Let's see what they will say...
[self edited myself--lewd thought of what was to come next from Calley...insert your own foul publication here]
Let see...
Bailey spent $44K (rounded up a tiny bit)to come in second. Will he spend that much again? You can get a sweet Hummer for that price. Not worth the gas though. Newell spent $44-62K depending on how you parse it.Big bank rolls those doctors.
I reckon Calley will spend $48-60K. Then again, he may get home school labor like DeVos has...maybe less. Wish we had more frequent or same day reporting. Come on Teri, put the lead out!
Will Susan, Wade, or Reynolds spend anywhere near that? How much money would you plunk down to lose? Then again, thinking about it, Jim and Susan are gamblers, they are in this race, they are spending money left and right for no certain result...so in a weird light they are pro-casino.
I will cancel all plans to hear Newell's announcement! Ask me if I could care less? Time for the "Ole State Cop Farm" Newlbie! Perhaps you and DeBoer can play checkers!
Timmy--
We are not giving in (at least I haven't), we are being realistic. I've seen primaries from near and far and they've all followed this form. Can I be wrong? I hope so.
As for your rumor about Susan, not true. My first-hand source says things will be coming down the pike for Susan quite soon.
Bailey. What is he going to spend to overcome Calley's tactical and monetary lead? HinT: Magic number is $50K+.
Woopee he got the Realtors. That pays for campaign shirts. They don't bundle in this area, give up their sign locations, or give you any vote power, so their influence is squat.
Bailey should have untied his forces over a year ago.
It's true that Barry is the majority geographically in the district. Calley has formed a "Berlin Wall" of a voting block in Ionia, that no Barry candidate has seemed to crack. That wall is seeping into Barry (recent endorsements and such). RtL's endorsement practically clads this wall in steel. I don't think Jim has a big enough chisel to take this wall down, given the characters in play.
Unless I see some activity from another candidate to change my mind, Calley has this (unfortunately) in the bag.
Timmy, this comment confuses me:
"He's not a bad guy at all, just pissed some people off that aren't willing to let some pride go."
This is the guy who wouldn't build a new animal shelter, so citizens like Brian Reynolds and Mark Englerth (and a hell of a lot more) banded together and GOT IT DONE. THAT is leadership. The animal shelter was needed and Bailey refused to do it, meanwhile he was trying to create a massive sports complex the area probably couldn't support (all those people who are against this new parks millage should remember Bailey's role in creating the mess we've got with the park and rec board. This isn't sour grapes, it's historical fact and there's no reason to to think this leopard's spots have changed. If Bailey wanted this race he should have been working from his last defeat to win this thing but instead he fell off the radar and now he comes in grousing that the district left him behind. He jumped in at the last minute with his recycled signs thinking he could bully the other people who'd been campaigning for months to step aside. This arrogance is part of Bailey's problem.
And let's not even get into Small Government Consultants and the resulting waste, if not outright theft, of taxpayer money to this shady group and Bailey's complicit role in the whole mess. Or maybe we should get into it if people are going to keep trying to throw out Bailey as a reasonable alternative to Calley when he's nothing of the sort.
Brian Reynolds is the only competant, trustworthy figure in this race whose depth of knowledge and moral integrity will assure voters of quality representation in Lansing. You can all complain about he doesn't look the part or talk the part, but isn't everyone always complaining they are fed up with politicians? Here's your chance- don't blow it.
This five way race levels the playing field for an outsider who doesn't appeal the narrow far right wing base of the local GOP. If the Dems and Independents want they can have a mjor influence on this race. But will they show up or continue to whine about not being given the perfect candidate? You can have someone represent YOU and not the special interests if you go in the booth August 8 and forget all the conventional wisdom that keeps spewing out Gary Newells and Brian Calleys.
Amen!
One of my criteria for supporting candidates is if they took the time to actually file petitions, or did they just pay the $100 and go what the heck.
I salute Vlietstra & Reynolds for doing it the hard, honorable way, that's why they were on my short list for consideration.
See for yourself: http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/candlist/06PRI/06PRI_CL.HTM
IN! Reynolds is the man.
now how do we make him win?
A few things about the FOGLI folks:
1. Not enough cross-over to GOP. Lots of committed Dems.
2. A good chunk aren't registered voters.
3. Too divided between the area counties to be effective.
4. Many are just waiting on the courts.
Add the fact that they got burned with Geiger and VanVolkinburg in '02 means their influence isn't what it should be.
With two pro-casino candidates in th election, this dog won't hunt.
Addition:
Reynolds would be better served by getting the MEA endorsement than FOGLI any day. Teachers will dole out the money, manpower and votes.
This hasn't been the case with FOGLI.
Look folks, pipe dreams are just that. From what I have seen so far Reynolds has no campaign. His signs are a joke and the four page piece he has out has too many words and a last page pandering to the gun nuts that leaves out the words of the 2nd ammendment wich is under no threat anyway. Reynolds has to quit pandering and start a real campaign. Word on the street is that he was offered the MEA endorsement and turned it down. Campaigns are won in the last three weeks if proper groundwork has been laid. Sure Reynolds is the best candidate...but he has to start moving yesterday.
I think I've said before that Reynolds was searching for some magical elf to do his campaign work for him.
Don't get me wrong, I like Brian, I respect Brian, but from day one he a squandered opportunuites and shunned aliances that could have made him a true competitor in this race.
If what Pat says is true about shunning the MEA, it only goes to reinforce my point.
Brian is what you get when the "little guy" goes for the big time! He can't lower himself to the sordid depths or gutters of the Brian C's of the world. It takes the other "littles" to rise and show we count, one vote at a time. Why do we need any endorsements, other than that's the way its always been done! Vote for the person, the heart, the desire, the "not beholdings to special interests" of the District. I truly believe it will happen someday. We can only take so many Newells, Calleys, Posthumous', and the rest. The Nation, State, and County are going down, we will be forced to stand up and rebel! Those of you who don't, MOVE OVER, the Wabash Cannonball is stoking coals down the track headed for Hastingsville!
Err...isn't that the Portland Cannonball? ;)
No need for rails LOL
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