Campaign cruise control

Well, we had our chance to get a look at the contenders for the November general election in the 87th district State Rep. race and were reminded why conventional wisdom says Brian Calley won this race in August. Last night's forum at Thomas Jefferson Hall in Hastings showed no reason for anything to think Brian Calley won't be sworn in to a Gary Newell's vacant seat in January barring a meltdown by Brian Calley which would likely have to include multiple felony charges. Calley's decisive win over a crowded Republican primary field was impressive enough that even the Barry County Republicans who charged certain candidates with "crowding the field" have had to realize that even in a one-on-one match that Calley likely still would have won- which means there is not a serious sense of bad blood- and a unified Republican Party means another commanding win in November for the banking industry's Golden Boy.

Democratic Party nominee Doug Kalnbach showed a sense of humor and got in some good zingers but it won't be enough to even bring him above 40% most likely. Kalnbach come across as a likeable guy but also a typical union candidate- presenting a gut level appeal to the working class who has long ago tuned out the Democratic Party's message of economic populism in favor of the Republicans' message of corporate fascism and theocracy sold through fear mongering and spoon-fed easy answers to complex moral and social issues. If Kalnbach was serious about this race, he'd also be hitting the streets harder than he is- there's not many votes to be won at small town drinking holes or biker rallies. I'm sure the calculation is that the anti-helmet biker crowd shows up and swings this race for Kalnbach, but Calley's pro-gun and pro-life stances are all it takes to win here. It's time for the Democrats to hit harder and play smarter if they want to win. Dave Brinkert's campaign against Gary Newell showed that even a pro-gun, pro-life Democrat doesn't have a chance- it's time for some long-term thinking and to lay the groundwork to take these seats when the political landscape has shifted more in favor for the Democratic Party- perhaps when they get redistricted in 2010.

If the Democratic Party wants to win seats in West Michigan they need to begin a long-term campaign in the form of a 5, 10 and 15 year plan that works on voter registration and education, candidate recruitment and grooming and an attempt to provide a funding structure besides relying on the remaining union members and a few $50 from friends and family to fund their candidates.

The only way I could see Brian Calley losing this race was if the far right voters, feeling alienated by a national Republican Party that has spent money like drunken sailors and failed to do anything of substance on abortion or homosexual marriage despite having a solid majority in Congress as well as control of the Executive branch and having a majority of Republican-nominated justices on the Supreme Court, decided to abandon the GOP and cast protest votes for fringe party candidates but that won't happen here. Constitution Party and US Taxpayers Party candidate Walt Herwarth failed to appear as a credible alternative to Brian Calley, sometimes losing his train of thought and not finishing his answers. It wasn't a good performance and it was a good sign that there won't be much to worry about from Calley's right flank which was the only place there could be a serious challenge.

The status quo will reign and re-elect Gary Newell (well, his protogé anyway) to another term in Lansing. And in a couple more years when you hear people grousing about Lansing and politicians, ask them how they voted in November, 2006. I bet you'll know the answer...

The "miracle" weight loss of smaller government

Did the word “downsizing” even exist before the 1980s? If it did, it wallowed in relative obscurity. Most of us became aware of the “d” word during that infamous decade when stories proliferated about manufacturing companies trimming their work forces at plants in Michigan and sending jobs to tax friendlier places to do business and “remain competitive.” The explanation was that the workers in this state were paid too much for what they did and their counterparts in Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas were willing to do it a lot more cheaply. Since then these companies have gone even further, severely reducing or eliminating work forces in the United States and sending jobs to overseas Third World sweatshops, where the native boys and girls are happy to do the work for even less than minimum wage here- although maybe that's because they're chained to their sewing machines and don't have a choice. Meanwhile, politicians like Dick Devos try to sell downsizing as good for the US economy but then pinning the blame of their opponents when companies take their advice- how convenient.

While downsizing has been touted for the last 25 years as a cost-saving, necessary function for modern business, we’ve heard a lot of hot air at the same time about how government must get “leaner and meaner,” how it should “trim the fat” and how it should turn over many of its inefficient services to private enterprise. “Big government” was the big target of the Reagan Revolution of 1981, the Newt Gingrich Revolution of 1994 and the latest wave of Neoconism with George W. Bush as its figurehead. Yet the politicians who have subscribed to and advanced the gospel of smaller government have done virtually nothing to reduce the number of politicians. Instead, they’ve only reduced government services to the people who need them most while increasing the number of kick backs to their supporters who write the big checks that finance their re-election campaigns.

Closer to where we live, we’ve seen the number of state legislators remain the same and the number of Barry County commissioners actually increase in the last 20 years, despite attempts to have their legions downsized. Michigan state representatives and senators tenaciously resisted any attempts to have the State Senate eliminated, thereby whittling the number of lawmakers in Lansing from 148 to 110. The Unicameral Michigan effort that started in 2005 in little old Hastings and Barry County failed to gain enough traction to "Fire the Senate." Legislators refused to debate the proposed idea and most in the big-time media refused to report on the petition drive until it was clear it had failed (the Grand Rapids Press never even mentioned the effort, begun in their back yard, until it was dead in the water).

Candidates like Brian Calley, the man likely to be the next State Rep. for the 87th District, bristled at the suggestion the State Legislature could be downsized. Calley at first said he preferred a part-time legislature, even though the current group in Lansing only has to show up for work about 90 days a year. Then he said he had a good working relationship with Sen. Alan Cropsey, who was very responsive to him, a county commissioner. Of course, the fact that Calley has been groomed for the job might have something to do with his cozy relationship with Cropsey- one of the worst legislators in the entire state capitol. Our new state rep’s crowning argument was that he wasn’t against reducing government, he just didn’t like this particular proposal. So does Calley, supposedly like the Ford Motor Co., have a better idea? I have not heard nor seen it.

A proposal to save Michigan as much as a billion dollars in salaries, fringe benefits and personal expenses over 10 years was scuttled by politicians who spend a lot of time telling us they want smaller government and don’t want the people to spend their “hard-earned money” on things they don’t need while giving themselves fat pay raises and building a Taj Mahal of an office complex on the taxpayers' dime. Apparently we believe their carefully crafted hooey because we still elect ‘em again and again and November looks to be more of the same from the West Michigan electorate.

The Barry County Board of Commissioners, when it took on the task of redistricting in 1992, managed to increase the number of commissioners from seven to eight, thereby increasing the cost of local government by 12.5 percent. That, in a county government dominated by the party that proudly boasts of advocating smaller government.

When the issue resurfaced in 2002, Barry County Democratic Party Chairman Mel Goebel and GOP Chairman Mark Englerth came up with a proposal to reduce that number from eight to five, thereby saving county taxpayers plenty of bucks spent on lawmaking services that may not be necessary. Their proposal to downsize the County Board by 37.5%, trimming salaries, per diems and fringe benefits, was defeated in a 3 to 2 vote, with Clerk Debbie Smith, Treasurer Sue Vandecar and Prosecutor Gordon Shane McNeill standing by their friends on the County Commission and allowing all of them to keep their seats. Englerth and Goebel were turned away, though their idea, like Unicameral Michigan, promoted downsizing government.

Former State Rep. Bob Bender, a public supporter of status quo candidate Calley, once told a crowd that whenever then-Governor James Blanchard talked, the people should hold on to their wallets. It appears the taxpayers should do the same when the politicians who say they want smaller government tell us what they think we want to hear. The smaller government agenda is just a reduction of services to the unfortunate among us who can't help themselves while throwing tax cuts at the rich who give fat campaign checks to the politicians in power which perpetuate the system of the status quo.

When are we finally going to throw out the liars and cowards who promise they’ll work for us when they really are actively working against us while taking care of themselves and doing the bidding of special interests who bribe them?

Don't be so negative, Dick

Just about a month ago GOP Gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos took to the airwaves with an ad that stated his hope that the race not focus on attack ads and pointing out negatives. He should heed his own advice.

Never mind that the DeVos campaign already had negative ads on the air for several months beating up Governor Granholm over the Michigan economy- something which any high school economics student could probably point out has a lot more to the with the fortunes of the Big 3 auto makers and the decisions of their executives than anything one state's governor can control especially one with a state house and senate in the hands of the opposing party that refuses to work with her in an effort to prevent her from having a record to run on. DeVos was clearly trying to get the state Democratic Party to hold its fire since Dem Party Chair Mark "How Many Races Can I Lose Yet Keep My Job?" Brewer has been consistenly hammering DeVos for giving workers pink slips in America while adding jobs in China when he was top dog at Amway/Alticor/Quixtar/Pyramids 'R Us. This was also at the same time that Granholm was finally getting ads on the air, both from her own campaign and from the state Democratic Party defending her record but obviously likely laying the ground to finally hit back at DeVos due to his deep pockets his attcks have been going mostly unchallenged for several months. And never mind the fact that DeVos has featured in his ads a guy (with an accent that sounds strangely like those guys from Saturday Night Live who rooted for "Da Bears" so I wonder if he's even "from around here" if you know what I mean) saying a four letter word- I thought the DeVos family was all about high moral values and enshrining Christian dogma into law so as to oppose the liberal Homosexual agenda that fills our media with content that could harm our children- and yet when it helps him attack Granholm it suddenly becomes OK to air obscenities over the public airwaves for my five year old son to hear. Now, DeVos is bombarding the airwaves with not just one, but two, negative ads blasting Granholm- one for not courting foreign car makers and inducing them to bring their factories to Michigan and the other featuring "people on the street" saying Granholms hasn't "done what she promised" with no indication of what those promises were.

So, the moral relativity of the DeVos campaign has been exposed- he's against negative ads when they might show him as a guy who hands out pink slips to Michigan workers who, as his wife and immediate past Chair of the Michigan Republican Party has stated, "make too much money" but he's for negative ads if they can bring down his opponent without him having to actually tell us where he stands on the issues. And now that the Republican have gone around the Governor's veto and eliminated the SBT, DeVos doesn't even have that to use. Expect more attack ads because that's all Dick's got.

Parks and Wreck Board?

Many have been weighing in lately in the aftermath of Charlton Park getting swept in a doubleheader (if you’ll forgive yet another sports metaphor) Aug. 8, but I think there is another factor that’s been overlooked. In case you were on another planet last week, the quarter of a mill renewal proposal for Charlton Park was turned away by a convincing 59 to 41 percent margin. The request for an increase of a quarter of a mill went down in flames to the tune of 70-30 percent. Explanations have included disillusionment with the Barry County Parks and Recreation Commission, the increasingly poor economic climate for Barry County citizens, Commissioner Mike Callton’s columns explaining why he opposed the increase and his statements about the burgeoning number of local millages, from none to five in the last 20 years, and last, but not least, dissatisfaction with fewer special events offered at the park. I suggest it’s all of the above, and I’d like to add another one — Charlton Park’s recent history of turning away from serving its core constituency, its neighbors, and instead unsuccessfully courting tourists from the surrounding urban and suburban areas, like Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, Lansing and Kalamazoo.

The few times I’ve visited Charlton Park in the last few years I have rarely, if ever, seen anyone there except the director and the volunteers. If this is supposed to be a wonderful late 19th century slice of history, a poor man’s Dearborn Village, it is failing to attract tourists with big dollars to spend and not offering things for those tourists to spend money on when they do show up. The Banner in an editorial a couple of years ago asked just what the purpose is for Charlton Park’s existence. Some say it should become a money-making tourist trap and others insist it should be an educational resource. The Banner suggested it should be both. I really don’t see how Charlton Park, as wonderful as it’s cracked up to be, can be the kind of tourist attraction a Dearborn Village or even a Gilmore Car Museum has been. Most suburban people within 50 miles of Hastings don’t pile their families into the SUV on a Sunday afternoon for the express purpose of going to little old Barry County in order to see blacksmiths, a general store from the 1890s, a more than 100-year-old township hall or a one-room schoolhouse, especially when there is also Bowens Mills in Yankee Springs offering the historical flavor Charlton Park has as well as the multiplying number of other things for families to do on weekends in the area- including the favorite American tradition of staying home and watching NASCAR on TV.

The park has done itself no favor by declining to advertise in local media while chasing the mirage of rich yuppies in big neighboring cities, taking the local audience for granted. The result has been that not only did the out-of-towners fail to show but that the Barry County citizens who should be flocking to the park to enjoy its offering have mostly forgotten it exists- it certainly didn't help when fees were raised and the park lost a couple of its high profile events, leaving its summer selections down to just one or two big events and leaving the park empty much of the main tourist season.

What packs in tourists and the hope they bring along lots of money, is stuff like the Civil War re-enactments, the gas and steam shows, the car and truck shows, the medieval festivals and other traveling entertainment extravaganzas. And virtually no one begrudges Charlton Park for trying to make a few bucks on Saturdays and Sundays. But during the weekdays, the park and its staff ought to do a much better job of working with the five public school districts within Barry County, local Christian schools and some other schools near our borders, like Caledonia, Gull Lake, Wayland and Bellevue. The park ought to make certain all elementary children spend part of a day at least once a year at Charlton Park, not just to gain a slice of local history appreciation (which in itself is a worthy goal and something I enjoyed as a child but my informal survey leads me to believe no longer happens as much as it should), but also so the kids will go home to mommie and daddy and tell them what a cool time they had at the park local taxpayers support.

In a nutshell, folks, put Charlton Park to work, let it prove its worth by arranging to have a lot of Barry County residents, particularly children, visit. And the rest will take care of itself as people will see the value they get in supporting the park and might actually go there and spend their money voluntarily instead of having to be begged for it at the ballot box.

However, all I’ve seen lately from Charlton Park is this continued effort to lure outside people who aren’t really interested or have other things to do. And the director often tells us we can use the Thornapple Lake swimming area free. But that perk isn’t enough to bring people in and encourage them to feel about this place.

I think the time is now to begin the process of re-introducing Charlton Park to the people of Barry County and beef up the number of weekend events people can attend for pure fun. It’s good economics and good public relations.

But before all this can happen, some of the old guard on the Parks Board should step aside (or be dragged away kicking and screaming if that's what it takes) to make way for new and fresh ideas. Clare Tripp and Ken Neil ought to announce their resignations for the good of the future of Charlton Park. They bring with them too much negative baggage that will endanger chances of passing the renewal. If they insist on seeing this through, so be it, they’ll taste defeat yet again, and after January a new Board of Commissioners can begin the task of making new appointments. Will all of his experience and knowledge of parks, newly-elected commissioner (if the recount fails to provide Tom Wing with the 10 votes he needs to overcome his primary defeat) Jeff VanNortwick should certainly be welcomed back to a seat on the Parks Board, two years after he was unceremoniously removed simply for asking too many questions.

The point here, however, is that Charlton Park must begin now to rebuild by no longer taking for granted its major funders, the taxpayers of Barry County, through the childrens' visits weekdays and through increased weekend entertainment. Then maybe there will be a Charlton Park most voters won’t mind supporting with their tax dollars.

General election complexion

It’s been a week since the primary, and judging by the many comments posted on this site, there’s been a lot of thought and analysis imparted about what happened and why. I don’t think I could say anything that hasn’t already been said. With that in mind, it’s time to turn our thoughts to what lies ahead.

There should be no debate the general election is a lot less interesting than what we saw Aug. 8. I see only two genuine horse races among the candidates — gubernatorial and U.S. senatorial. Both of those are too close to call now.

Incumbent Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm is facing a masterful campaign of marketing, advertising and propaganda. Self-financed billionaire Dick DeVos likely will break all records for campaign spending because he simply has the war chest to handle it. And his ads, which besides the religious right's army of sheep (who flock to the polls to vote as they are told) are the deciders for the less than attentive and educated electorate (which sadly seem to constitute a majority in American electoral politics), have been superb in identifying the problems without actually offering any substantial ideas about how to solve them. DeVos is great at telling how horrible things are without giving us a clue about how he plans to do any better- a highly dubious proposition for his election prospects since his solutions are more of what ailes us in the form of more tax cuts, more deregulation and more catering to a radical fringe that Lansing impose moral guidelines on the citizens of Michigan. DeVos also missed a golden opportunity by picking a uninspired choice for Lt. Governor which will score him few points outside of the battleground of Oakland County- which is prime real estate but has been trending Democratic and probably won't reverse that trend in a mid-term Congressional race year that could well be defined as a referendum on the policies of George W. Bush. DeVos could have picked Keith Butler and made a play at suppressing Granholm's support in Detroit- but either DeVos' people decided a charismatic second choice might upstage the former Amway executive or else they figured throwing a black Republican on the ticket could actually provoke the black vote into supporting Granholm and pushing her to victory (a third choice would be they know of some baggage that might hurt the campaign but I have nothing to support that theory).

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, another Democrat, defeated Satan's spawn- Spencer Abraham- six years ago and now defends her seat from the position of incumbency. Stabenow has been an effective legislator, crafting an agenda based on bread and butter issues to separate herself from the senior Senator from Michigan, Carl Levin- who has made a career as a voice of reason on the Armed Services Committee and is seen as one of the Democrats most solid voices on foreign affairs. Stabenow has banked a considerable war chest and and has kept close enough to the middle that her opponent will have a hard time defining her as too liberal for Michigan's voters- especially at a time when most voters are telling pollsters they are disgusted with the way the GOP President and Congress are running/ruining the country. Stabenow's biggest problem might be that, while she has been on the right side of voting against the bungled war in Iraq, she has occasionally been a disappointment with her support of the bankruptcy bill and support of Condi Rice for Secretary of State- things which have likely weakened her support among the Democratic base she'll need to win re-election. It’s Debbie’s race to lose given the current political climate and her massive head start in fundraising. Bouchard's biggest advantage is that his primary race against Keith Butler was not vicious and he came away with little damage- however the easy primary victory could also be a boon to the Stabenow campaign by keeping the race below the radar of most voters, many of whom still have no idea who Mike Bouchard is which will force him to spend a lot of money just to raise his name ID. Stabenow's campaign seems well prepared for a tough battle since she has already shown a willingness to hit hard and pick the right spots to go after- the day after the primary results were announced she was swinging away on trade deals and health care and trying to put the race on her terms. Perhaps she should give Granholm a few pointers on strategy.

Closer to home, I see a lot of yawners ahead where the incumbents and "anointed" steamroll to yet another victory for the status quo despite massive voter outrage at the current state of affairs. A preview:
• State Senate, 24th District — Patty Birkholz right now is the No. 2 honcho in Lansing, right behind the term limited Ken Sikkema. Native son Terry Geiger beat her up pretty badly in Barry County in the GOP primary four years ago, by better than 2-to-1, but “Pincushion Patty” returned the favor in Eaton and Allegan counties. Democratic challenger Suzzette Roysten of Charlotte will need a near-miracle to pull off an upset. She has very little help. The Democratic Party in Allegan County is a joke that isn’t funny, while Barry County’s party is active but with a poor track record in recent elections. Suzzette apparently is enthusiastic, has union support and she likes to tell everybody she’s a hunter (remember David Brinkert’s success with that in 2004?). She certainly seems willing to give a run and for that she gets my enthusiastic support.
• State Representative, 87th District — Brian Calley, the Pride of Portland, took advantage of privileges of money and connections and knocking on a lot of doors in an energetic campaign that made all the right moves. A slick and capable politician, he’ll be nearly impossible to defeat in November. There likely aren’t enough disgruntled Republicans, plus active and committed Democrats to take him out. Nice guy Doug Kalnbach, who like DeVos doesn’t believe he should have to wear a motorcycle helmet, stands about as much chance of winning this one as Roysten does against Birkholz. Give them both a glad hand for being willing to take the time and effort and spend the money for a virtually hopeless cause. Kalnbach will play the working man motif with mostly little effect barring a political earthquake.
• Barry County Board of Commissioners — Third, Fourth and Sixth districts.
Democrats Mike Lewis in the Third and Brinkert in the Sixth both have an outside shot, with the emphasis on the “outside.” Lewis has the better demographics with a fair number of registered Democrats in Hope Township (almost 45%) and not too long ago the Rutland Township Board was dominated by Boll Weevil-style Democrats. But Lewis is a virtual unknown and he’s got a lot of tough work ahead of him. His recent postings here indicate a serious candidate determined to get his message out which is half the battle. We've seen how well the 911 issue was used to tap into voter anger in the primary and if played correctly it could well propel Lewis to victory over Keith Ferris who many see as part of the James-Bailey nexus. This is a sleeper race that could end up in the forefront in the way that the Pratt-Evans race shook the community when Evans upset the incumbent Prosecutor.

Brinkert, a local business owner, is helped by Orangeville Township’s traditional Dem leanings, but Republican Mark Englerth boasts that he knocked on every door in Orangeville on the road to victory last week over Chairmarm Clare Tripp. Yankee Springs Township is as about as solidly Republican as any municipality in Barry County. Some say Englerth’s sometimes abrasive style is a big turnoff to some voters and the Tripp supporters will never cast their lots with him. Doubtful- most will likely vote straight Republican on Nov. 7 or just avoid filling out the bubble for the county board race. Brinkert's a good guy and has likely learned a lot since his race against Gary Newell for State Rep. as through his involvement with the county Democratic Party but the playing field is tilted in the favor of the GOP and Mark has cast himself in the mold of the people's hero in his opposition to the Charlton Park millages. Many are expecting a race here but I'm not convinced yet it will be very close unless Brinkert can find an angle to woo the voters who are scared of the "radical" Mark Englerth. Then again, most of those voters probably think Brinkert is just as radical simply for being a Democrat.

The Fourth District, despite grumblings on the street that incumbent Republican Hoot Gibson has been waffling on the issues, will see no change. Democrat John Loftus will extend his record losing streak that stretches back to the early 1990s when he was Bob Wenger’s electoral plaything. Hoot has very little, if anything to fear.

The state-wide ballot issues and the attorney general and secretary of state races are still works in progress, so I’ll save my commentary on them for later.

Calley wins State Rep. GOP primary

With all 26 Barry precincts reporting. Calley wins the Republican primary for the 87th House seat by a wide margin in Barry and he also carried Ionia handily.

Barry County results:
Calley- 2336
Bailey- 1603
Vlietstra- 1262
Reynolds- 1221
Doster- 385
Trombley- 104
Lower- 74

And over on the Democratic side:
Kalnbach- 1731

Millage requests go down

With everybody reporting, the 2 millage requests for Parks and Rec both go down to defeat. The renewal was defeated 59-41 and the extra "hobby railroad" request went down 70-30.