Posted on 05/04/2005 7:55:03 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Fieger says he may try another run for governor
5/4/2005, 9:19 p.m. ET
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
The Associated Press
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Attorney Geoffrey Fieger says he's thinking of running again for governor, this time against Gov. Jennifer Granholm in next year's Democratic primary.
"I would prefer not to do that," Fieger said Wednesday after taping public television's "Off the Record" program. "The only way I would run is if I thought she was going to lose" the 2006 election to a Republican.
Fieger, known for his outspokenness and former role as assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian's attorney, unexpectedly won the 1998 Democratic gubernatorial primary largely based on his popularity in Detroit. But Gov. John Engler easily beat Fieger, 62 percent to 38 percent, on the Republican's stroll to a third term.
Chris De Witt, political spokesman for the Granholm campaign, declined to say much about Fieger's announcement.
"It would be fair to say that, be it Geoffrey Fieger or anyone else, she doesn't anticipate having any primary opposition," De Witt said. "Geoffrey Fieger is being Geoffrey Fieger and I don't have anything to add beyond that."
Fieger said during "Off the Record" that Granholm is not doing enough to help Detroit and has been too cautious during her first two years in office.
"Gov. Granholm would be more effective if she wasn't so afraid of being confrontational," said Fieger, who has been criticized for being too much the opposite.
The Southfield attorney said he considered running for Detroit mayor this year but that the timing isn't right because he wants to spend time with his young family and because one of his law partners recently died.
"Had circumstances been different, I would have run," Fieger said.
He said he considers Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick a friend but that Detroit's projected $230 million deficit and the mayor's spending on items that have raised questions about unnecessary expenses is pulling the city down.
"Unfortunately, everyone now has lost confidence in the city," Fieger said. He added that he thinks Kilpatrick still could win re-election this November.
Granholm appointed Fieger in March 2004 to head the Michigan Film Advisory Commission, noting that he received a bachelor's degree in theater from the University of Michigan in 1974.
Under Fieger's term at the helm, the commission hasn't met much. But Fieger said he has approached members of the Granholm administration with a plan to encourage more filmmaking in the state by offering filmmakers a 50 percent tax break on everything they do in Michigan.
"The legislation could overnight make Michigan the movie capital of the world," he said. "It's found money" since few films now are being made in Michigan.
Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said Wednesday evening that she had no comment on Fieger's proposal.
Trading one Bozo for another... Six of one, half dozen of the other.
I wouldn't mind seeing Fieger as mayor of Detroit, since he'd rattle some chains that need rattling in that hellhole of a city government. The guy would be a disaster as governor, however. Almost as bad as Granholm.
This is the guy who opines on Greta's show sometimes?
Probably(I don't watch it). He was the flamboyant attorney for Dr Jack Kevorkian.
Oh, please, let it be! Please run, Geoffrey! Not to disparage Kwame's contributions, but we can sure use the entertainment.
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