"... the "water, winter, welfare wonderland"
Exactly. I lived in Michigan for 10 years, from l977 to l987, and it is the biggest tax and welfare state in the Union. Now, it' time to pay the piper. They love liberal Democrats in Michigan. They love taxes, they love abortions, they love big Labor Union thugs, they love welfare and they love "Ray Nagin-style" politicians in Detroit. So, TURN OUT THE LIGHTS ON THE ENTIRE CRAPPY STATE AND LET THEM HAVE A "LOVE FEST".
Remember, if you subtract a few counties (i.e. Detroit, Dearborn, Ann Arbor), Michigan is as red a state as you can find. Considering the substantial amount of alleged vote fraud in Detroit and Dearborn (currently under federal investigation), it's entirely possible for the state to go the other way. Union sentiment is also on the way out, and is pretty much a joke west of Jackson.