State of the State House/Sense of the Senate

Question: Who will control the State House and Senate in January?

While looking for answers to this question I found this article. Currently, the GOP holds 58 seats in the house and Democrats 49 with 3 vacancies. The article doesn't offer much in the way of facts besides a little history and then some he said/she said quotes from Dianne Byrum and Craig DeRoche. The Republicans have been in control in the 110-seat House since 1997-98. This article by the same reporter does a little better at talking about the real chances of a change in the party controlling the state legislature- not much. The Republican redistricting did a good job at creating many non-competitive districts leaving few areas where Democrats have a chance to pick off the seats they need to retake the House. Meanwhile, the State Senate is in control of the Republicans by a count of 22-16 which means a swing of 3 seats to the Dems could put Lt. Gov. John Cherry in a tie-breaking role should he and Governor Granholm win a second term.

For all the election talk this season I find it odd that there is little discussion of what the state legislature will look like in January. I also wonder why part of Granholm's strategy hasn't been to go after DeRoche and Ken Sikkema more as they stood in her way in order to pave the way for Dick DeVos' challenge. She could have seriously changed the complexion of the race and her party's chances to take over in Lansing in January. As it is, the Dems are close and could pull it off but the deck remains stacked. It would be nice if the media and the pollsters bothered to cover state politics regarding the legislature as much as they do the Governor's race. While the Governor is the CEO of state government, the legislature is where the sausage gets made and the rancid meat being forced up on the people of Michigan over the last several years has left me wanting to cleanse the palette.

General election complexion

It hasn’t even been three months since the Aug. 8 primary election, and it seems as though the local political climate has gone from exciting with change in the air to almost boring and irrelevant with a sense of the status quo creeping back into things.

Perhaps the biggest development has been the collapse of the Barry Democratic Party into virtual oblivion, as if it was possible to sink even deeper in terms of lack of influence in local politics. The Dems once again could only muster three candidates for offices on the County Board of Commissioners- two of which seem destined for defeat as it stands today. The others on the ballot seem to fill the usual Democratic opposition role as placeholders of a local party that is virtually powerless and doesn't seem to realize the large task that remains before it- building a strong local party with committed volunteers and a grip on the reality of the situation.

Fourth District candidate John Loftus has been running for a seat on the board for more than a dozen years now, and he’s even more pathetic than he was in days gone by, this time choosing not to even show up for the candidates’ forum. The question then is this: John, if you didn’t intend to be serious about the job, why did you bother to apply? While it's nice to have the slot filled by a "D" in order to keep a race "contested" this has became a sad biannual affair which needs to end- something which might actually spur other Dems in the district to get off their butts and field a real candidate and move the local Democratic Party beyond its existence as a geriatric social club.

The other race that seems a lock for the Republicans is in the Third District, where Democrat Mike Lewis came from virtually nowhere to skyrocket into rarefied air as a potential problem solver and intelligent alternative to the status quo, only to fall from grace after revelations of a pattern of questionable personal activities, some of which were illegal according to a front page article in the Oct. 19 Hastings Banner. The sheer weight of accusations seems to weigh down any attempts to explain them individually as they seem to make up a pattern and while Lewis has admitted wrong-doing he then makes counter charges and offerees defenses that don't seem to square. How such an obviously bright guy can get himself caught up in more than one of these ridiculous situations seems too much to swallow. The beautiful thing is that voters will get to decide for themsleves what they think of all this and if, as Lewis suggests, this is part of an attempt to unfairly trash him then he is allowed to explain that to the masses and find out if they agree. The fact remains that even without these reports Lewis as a Democrat would have faced an uphill battle but now that fight seems a bit harder to overcome. This whole sordid affair is likely to give Republican newcomer, but same old same old Keith Ferris a smooth ride on election night, and it may just be the biggest tragedy of the general election. Would that this election could be only about who had better ideas- Lewis would win hands down since Ferris has offered nothing in his appearances or ads to deserve a vote and Lewis has proven he is willing to stir things up, ask tough questions and look at things in a new way. If Lewis plays any part in stopping the freight train intent on renovating an aging jail which occupies prime retail space for an overblown price then Mike has done more than most local politicians without even being elected. A large part of me wants to suggest you vote for Lewis and then, if he does win, watch him like a hawk and be ready to send him away if he does anything the least bit questionable while in office. Given the corruption and incompetance that has existed in Barry County for years, we could probably do much worse, but can we do better? That is a question to be decided by the voters...

The real race to watch for a County Board seat seems to be between Democrat David Brinkert and Republican Mark Englerth in the Sixth District. Brinkert is the more likable chap of the two, but he somehow hasn’t been able to rid himself of the aura of naiveté that might hurt him as badly as simply having that dreaded and much-maligned “D” next to his name in a conservative district. Englerth certainly has made enough enemies in his stormy tenure as Barry County Republican Party Chairman and in the primary election in which he unseated current Chairmarm Clare Tripp. Rumor has it that Tripp is so bent on revenge she’ll marshal whatever forces at her disposal to seek Englerth’s defeat on Nov. 7. Mr. Englerth likely doesn’t have a lot to worry about. He won the primary pretty handily against a seasoned veteran and he will be on the Republican side of the ballot, which is as good as gold over the last dozen years in Barry County’s one-party system and would especially valuable in an election where many Republicans could come out to attempt to vote out Governor Granholm and Senator Stabenow.

The State Senate and State Representative contests don’t give us much in the way of relief. Republican Patty Birkholz will win the senate race over neophyte Suzzette Royston in a cakewalk and then make her bid for the Senate Majority Leader’s post. Royston just hasn’t been able to connect with voters in three counties, even though she’s a hunter and supports the death penalty. Her campaign is just more of the same and not enough to dethrone a powerful and entrenched politician like Birkholz who has somehow managed to appear moderate enough to not alienate too many voters in the middle.

Brian Calley is as virtually unbeatable as he was in the GOP primary for 87th District State Representative. Democrat Doug Kalnbach was a lot of fun on the campaign trail and at forums, but he really didn’t offer a serious alternative to Calley. Anybody out there think Kalnbach can get 40 percent of the vote? I'd love for the voters in the district to prove me wrong and wipe that smug smirk of Calley's face. The reason why Michigan is in a such a mess is because our state government has been ruled by the Mackinac Center and a right wing cabals of tax cutting loons who'd rather spend time making license plates for Right to Life or giving the ranch to big business than dealing with problems faced by every day people and Calley seems like more of the same instead of the agent of change he claims that he is.

Democrats in this area have to learn the tired old union-style politics doesn’t resonate very well in conservative Bible-thumping West Michigan, where most voters will simply go to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 7, with the opinion, “We like the way things are around here. Why should we change anything?” The Democratic Party seems to be facing a resurgance nationally but that coming tidal wave doesn't seem to be coming close to the GOP's oasis in West Michigan.

WOOD you believe this?

Bob Dylan said “You don’t need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind blows.” Let’s update that for WOOD-TV Channel 8's gang of meteorologists: “You don’t need a rocket scientist to understand the wind in this room blows far to the right.”

The latest evidence of the political hard-right spin from the seemingly harmless weather forecasters surfaced last weekend with a Grand Rapids Press report that Ms. Terri DeBoer, the morning weather woman, was hostess for a fund-raising party for Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos. Big deal, you might say. Ms. DeBoer, just like anybody else, has a right to support the candidate of her choice. Yet we’re told the media is biased to the left. Not so in the Channel 8 (and 41 WOTV which is owned by WOOD-TV) weather section of the newsroom (or in other parts of the building). Unfortunately for viewers, DeBoer's support of the GOP is only one instance of a right wing media with an iron grip on West Michigan that pretends to reflect the community while ignoring any signs to the contrary.

Bill Steffen, one of Ms. DeBoer’s esteemed colleagues, has been going around to elementary classrooms to talk to the kiddies as a celebrity and promoter of 24-Hours News Eight, often bringing "the Weather Bug"- a Volkswagen Beetle painted up with product placement for the local TV channel which makes the parade rounds in West Michigan communities. When the moustachioed meteorologist stops in at private Christian schools he doesn’t hesitate to tell the impressionable young folks that evolution is a bunch of hooey and the Bible’s story of the creation is the literal truth. Steffan even has explained the existence of fire-breathing dinosaurs with one passage from the Bible that described a “dragon” or monster, proving that human beings in biblical times co-existed with the huge reptiles. Steffen also has given several night-time lecture presentations about the myths of evolution as opposed to the truths in the Bible in explaining where we came from and how. If Steffan's "science" is any indication, now we know why the weatherman always gets it so wrong.

A milder “sin” was committed by the affable and mild-mannered Craig James one evening when he talked about prospects of rain for the Promise Keepers’ march the following day. Why would he care? Is he as concerned about the precipitation when Michigan Pride, the state's major gay equality group, has an event planned? He's probably too busy praying for a deluge of around 40 days and 40 nights.

We shouldn’t be surprised when noting the right wing fundamentalist bias in the Grand Rapids media. The Grand Rapids Press is probably an even worse offender. Was anyone surprised at the GRP’s endorsement last Sunday of DeVos over Granholm, an “editorial” complete with just about all of Dick’s talking points in his flailing campaign to blame the governor for everything that’s gone wrong in the last four years rather than throw even a little bit of the blame to a derelict, dishonest and do-nothing Republican legislature that did all it could to keep the Governor from succeeding or looking good in order to elect one of their party's main benefactors to the job? Ever since Dick Posthumus was embarassed by the former Attorney General the plan has been in motion by the West Michigan Mafia- Get Granholm Gone.

It should be noted emphatically that GRP Editor Mike Lloyd is a close friend of Dick and Betsy DeVos. In fact, when Lloyd’s wife was killed in a traffic accident not long ago, guess who gave a moving eulogy for the deceased at her funeral? That’s right. Dick and Mike are more than just casual friends or acquaintances, they’re best buddies. And friends don’t let friends get defeated by Democrats when their Republican power brokers and it comes time to support them for something as important as running for governor and making Grand Rapids the unofficial capital of Michigan- or at least entrenching it as the power base for the state GOP's right wing flank.

A good example of the Press' over-the-top bias was shown when documentary film-maker, and well-known subject of right wing vitriol, Michael Moore came to Fulton Street Church and the Grand Rapids Press' account of the event focused nearly exclusively on then-state GOP chair Betsy DeVos' personal views on Mr. Moore's personal hygiene. The Press has also run countless articles on the DeVos campaign- putting very minor stories front and center in the paper in an effort to boost Mike Lloyd's personal friend- the beady-eyed billionaire with his sights on the Governor's mansion.

Channel 8 and the Grand Rapids Press are doing a fine tag team job in the service of the DeVos for Governor campaign. So look out kid because the right wing spin is blowing so hard out of the Grand Rapids media outlets that it threatens to turn into Hurricane Betsy- a Category 5 storm which would blow away environmental regulations, reproductive freedom and privacy, educational equality and opportunity and anything else that stands in the way of the DeVos family and their rich cohorts capturing the levers of government and using it to line their pockets at your expense.

PDWM forum available online

The Progressive Democrats of West Michigan recently hosted a forum with Doug Kalmbach and Brian Calley, candidates for the 87th state house seat, and Suzzette Royston who is challenging Patty Birkholz for a job in the State Senate. The forum is now available via the World Wide Web. The direct link is here. Or go to Google and click on "video" (at the top) and search using the name of any of the candidates. This is the entire hour-long forum with no edits so you'd better have a high speed connection before attempting to view this.

Renier within striking distance in MI-07

According to this article, a new poll shows Sharon Renier closing in on uber-fundamentalist Tim Walberg for the race to fill Joe Schwarz' seat in Michigan's 7th Congressional District which covers Calhoun and Washtenaw Counties. The poll gives Republican Tim Walberg a 43 to 35 percent lead over Democratic Party nominee Sharon Renier. The upside for Renier, despite being down by 8 points in this poll, is that her name recognition is only at 23% with Walberg being recognized by more than twice as many voters. The poll was conducted by Chicago-based company Glengariff Group Inc. shows Renier actually holding the lead among independent voters 36 to 33 percent, with 28 percent undecided.

Walberg's poor showing and Renier's surprising strength in the traditionally GOP-held district are likely due to the bloody GOP primary with many local Republicans witholding support from Walberg as well as the national shift from the Republican Party to Democrats in the wake of numerous Republican Party blunders and scandals. While most pundits are still counting on the seat remaining in the hands of the GOP, a growing momentum in local and national polls toward Democrats may just swamp the nation and create a Congressional rout like the Republicans experienced in 1994 and the Democrats had post-Watergate. Stay tuned...

County commission forum- softballs & sour grapes

Many have been criticial of the Barry County Board of Commissioners held Thursday, Sept. 28 at Thomas Jefferson Hall in Hastings, which included joint appearances by three Republican candidates for the County Board of Commisisoners, two Democrats and one independent. There were supposed to be eight next to the podium, but Democrat John Loftus was a no-show because he had “other priorities.” This “forced” Republican Hoot Gibson, the only incumbent in attendance, to watch from the audience rather than debate an empty chair. Gibson really didn’t miss much. The whole sordid affair was as pathetic as the perennial candidacies of Loftus.

Local Republicans have been critical of the forum because of the perception moderator Barbara Cichy, who is also chairwoman of the Barry County Democratic Party, set up Sixth District GOP candidate Mark Englerth with a loaded and esoteric question about “what makes a good taxpayer?” Some complain Englerth is notorious for being late with his tax payments on properties he owns and characterize him as a bit of a slumlord. Englerth has defended himself against such accusations earlier on this blog. The subject is certainly fair game but Cichy should have been out in the open in asking it instead of appearing to try to "sandbag" Englerth.

Meanwhile, some GOP faithful aren’t happy that Cichy unsuccessfully went after Englerth, but at the same time gave Democrat Mike Lewis, a candidate for Third District, a pass on his storied past. Lewis readily admits he served a prison term more than a dozen years ago for armed robbery, but insists he’s a changed man now, like Saul of Tarsus turning into the Apostle Paul, on the straight and narrow, now working as a business analyst, is an ordained minister and is general manager of a weekly newspaper.

Yet trouble still seems to follow Lewis around, just like it did the ever-embattled late Yankees Manager Billy Martin. Lewis somehow played a role in a some kind of scam involving cashing bogus money orders a little more than a year ago, one of his children was a victim of an alleged molestation and his and his wife’s restaurant failed. Billy Martin, in his book, “Number One,” consistently insisted he never started any of those many fights, that he was “just hanging around, doin nuthin, and then this guy comes up and makes trouble.” Lewis, like Billy Martin, is strangely gifted in certain areas, and just as Martin was an astonishingly good baseball manager, Lewis has the tools and intelligence to be a terrific county commissioner. He seems to be too smart to get involved in the problems that have followed him. I just don't know if there's not too much baggage for most voters to ignore- it would be nice to think the public is forgiving but often forgiveness is something we praise in others but practice very little on our own.

Back to the forum...

It did appear Cichy was setting up Englerth for a nasty sneak attack on taxes and it raised questions as to why lame duck commissioners Clare Tripp and Sandy James were in the audience that night. Some suggested to me they were tipped off to the possibility Englerth would have to answer a very difficult question and they wanted to see him squirm. I have no reason yet to doubt that assertion. At times, furthermore, it looked like Brinkert was being set up to read prepared statements rather than answer questions from the heart. One has to wonder if Cichy might not have tipped off her pal Brinkert about what questions would be asked- something that would certainly be a bit unseemly and taint the respect the forum has had- despite being held on the Democrats' home turf for so many years.

GOP boosters have railed against the Dems for trying to stack against Republicans at these forums and have suggested they no longer should come to such a tainted event. That’s interesting because the Barry County GOP has been the party of complacency, a party that hasn’t lifted a finger to have its own forum all these years. It’s well known in these parts that if you can win in the August Republican primary, you are virtually invincible in November (from what I hear, the voicing of this conventional wisdom is what got the Hastings Banner folks booted from the role of moderating these Democratic-hosted events by drawing the ire of the Dem Party elites who wish it wasn't true). Brian Calley is already showing up to photo-op type events rather than Gary Newell, just like Terry Geiger did in 1994 for Bob Bender. And do you really think Patty Birkholtz is worried about her opponent?

And yet the local GOP never bother to host their own forums- perhaps wishing they would just go away so they can run without bothersome questions from the public and the press, forcing them to actually defend their positions and run for the offices they aspire to instead of merely accepting their anointments and taking office. Some say this complacency is possible because the electorate votes dependably straight party for the status quo while others say it’s because the Dems never put up anybody worth voting for. This local one-party system has allowed people like Sandy James, Jim Bailey and Clare Tripp to take on the “R” and not carry any water for the party, just for themselves, because once you have the “R” next to your name on the ballot, you’re elected. In fact, it doesn't even matter if your positions are really even in synch with the GOP- as long as you've got the label you're virtually assured a win in November.

The only non-R or non-D at the forum was Ron Miller, and like Admiral William Stockdale’s most famous quote at the 1992 vice presidential debates, he very well could have asked, “What am I doing here?” without shocking anyone. Miller gave voters absolutely no reason to choose him over Jeff VanNortwick, the primary winner over the now bitter Tom Wing, who has announced his support for the independent challenger. Miller failed to voice any reason he was running so it looks as if Miller is nothing but a stooge put in place by digruntled Wing supporters to carry the torch and try to unseat the guy who beat their man.

Along the same lines, the embittered Tripp reportedly has taken a sudden shine to Brinkert and is reaching out to the Democrat to help defeat Englerth, the man who beat her in August. Brinkert will surely benefit from having a number of people turned off by Englerth's loud-mouth and abrasive style while Englerth will benefit from being a Republican in Barry County.

Two August primary sore losers, Wing and Tripp, are really showing sour grapes in continuing their fight after the intra-party primary. Calley told everyone during the state representative primary he’s tired of all the negative attacks and wants people to get along, especially since he was the undisputed leader and he won. Can our new state representative be a healer? I think Tripp and Wing will go their graves hating Englerth and VanNortwick like the different religious sects in the Middle East and the Balkans hate one another. I don’t think it’ll stop, because a fire in the street ain’t like a fire in the heart. Does Calley have the clout to bring Tripp and Wing back into the fold and help heal the rifts in the local GOP or is he too busy planning his inauguration party to bother?

I guess I really don't have anything else to say- pick your poison here, folks.

Club for Growth to get pruned?

Here's part of the complaint:

SCHWARZ FILES NINE-POINT F.E.C. COMPLAINT AGAINST CLUB FOR GROWTH

The Schwarz for Congress campaign committee today filed a formal, nine-point complaint with the Federal Election Commission, the federal agency charged with maintaining the integrity of elections, against Club for Growth Inc., the Club for Growth Inc. PAC, and the Walberg for Congress Committee. The nine point complaint outlines violations including:

• The illegal coordination of campaign resources between Club for Growth Inc. and at least four Club for Growth-endorsed candidate committees including Walberg for Congress.
• Club for Growth Inc. and Club for Growth PAC funneling illegal campaign contributions to the Walberg for Congress committee.
• Club for Growth Inc.'s failure to register as a political action committee and failure to file legally mandated reports of receipts and disbursements.
• The violation of federal campaign law by Walberg for Congress committee for accepting in-kind contributions in excess of $5,000.

"Whether you are Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, everyone must adhere to our nation's campaign finance laws," said U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz (R-Battle Creek). "As a Congressman, I have sworn to uphold the laws of the United States and when I have found clear evidence of any laws being broken, I must report that Club for Growth has flagrantly violated the laws, not only in Michigan but in races across the nation."

"In multiple races around the country in this election cycle, Club for Growth and candidate campaign committees employed the same vendors, including Red Sea LLC (and its subsidiary Basswood Research), National Research Inc. and Blue Point Consulting," Congressman Schwarz said. "If the club and its candidates share the same pollsters, media buyers and consultants, it is pretty obvious there is coordination occurring."

The complaint found that in addition to sharing vendors on the Walberg for Congress Committee, Club for Growth shared consistent vendors with the Laffey for Senate campaign in Rhode Island, the Sharron Angle for Congress campaign in Nevada, and the Bill Sali for Congress campaign in Idaho.

(snip)

The Federal Election Commission is presently suing the Club for Growth in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia (FEC v Club for Growth) to force the club to cease and desist from a number of the practices that form the basis of the complaint by the Schwarz for Congress committee.

Included in this federal complaint are charges that Club for Growth has failed to properly register as a political action committee. The organization seeks to influence elections and does so by illegally funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to campaign committees. According to the non-partisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network, 85.8 percent of Walberg for Congress campaign funding was funneled through the Club for Growth.

Schwarz has called for Club for Growth to lose it's PAC status and basically be forced to cease operations. For me, that's only the first part. If Walberg gained his spot on the ballot through violations of campaign finance laws then he should lose that slot. One of the major problems with our election laws is that even if Schwarz's allegations are proven true, Walberg's primary victory will still stand. Time and again we see how in politics cheaters are allowed to prosper and it's helping to create the rot in our political process that all of us can recognize the symptoms of. Some people hate sports analogies in politics, but if the offense commits pass interference in football and scores a touchdown it gets called back and they receive an extra penalty (either loss of yards or loss of down if I recall correctly). If the allegations of illegal coordination are true, Tim Walberg should lose his spot on the ballot or a special election should be called if he wins in November to replace him. I also think we should look at jail time for campaign officials and candidates found in violation of election and campaign finance laws. The sanctity of our electoral system is the fundamental part of our democracy- without free and fair elections we cannot maintain the open society based on justice and equality our country's founders created.

You can get more info here.

Support Walberg's opponent: Sharon Renier.