The State of the Michigan GOP

GOPUSA.COM ^ | 12-02-04 | Lisa Sarrach

[lisaann8]

Jeopardy question...

What is - A party of elitists who are in denial about their losses, who fail to recognize that they aren't on the same page with their party's leadership, who appear blind to the concerns of the local electorate and local activists, and who at times appear to have lost their way from their founding?

Answer is - The Democrat Party in 2004? Good guess and yes - but you'd also be describing today's Michigan GOP.

In the month since President Bush was re-elected and claimed a mandate, the state GOP here in Michigan was acting like they had one as well.

Time for a reality check...

The Michigan Republican Party has lost 4 presidential elections in a row. This year they also lost 5 state house seats, 3 county commission seats in Macomb County and 4 county commission seats in Oakland County.

The Oakland County GOP has been infighting publicly for over two years, pitting the religious right against the more moderate tone set by current County exec, L. Brooks Patterson.

The Macomb GOP has been rudderless and leaderless basically since the last presidential election in 2000.

West Michigan is in a perpetual struggle for dominance with Southeast Michigan.

Governor Granholm, however, has earned the right to do some crowing about this election cycle. She took the state for the party's candidate, and gained ground in the state house and two of the most populous county commissions.

Those results scream for some humility. Instead, what we got was the Michigan GOP crowing over the fact that they forced John Kerry to spend money late in the campaign.

[cripplecreek]

What I want to know is what are they planning to do avout this.

http://www.nationalreview.com/battleground/battleground.asp

[Torie]

FYI

[Aetius]

What do you expect from a state party that refused to support Ward Connerly's popular anti-racial preferences ballot initiative (whatever happened to that by the way???), despite it consistently polling at over 60%?

[queenkathy]

Yes, what exactly did happen with that complaint. I'd like to know also. I had heard that the republican party had filed a lawsuit against the UAW for harassment, etc. and I don't know what ever happened to that one either.

[California Patriot]

A disaster is always an opportunity for somebody.
If the Michigan GOP is a disaster, that just means a real leader can step up to the plate and take charge. Let's think about opportunities, not failures.

[TWohlford]

It's worse than the article indicates.

Our lame-duck Speaker of the House's pet program actually gave notebook computers to 6th graders. These $1000 notebooks (bought from vendors who sold them at a loss in order to get other State of Michigan business) were supposed to last for 4 years, included repair and support and software. Even in the best of times this was an awful idea, especially for a party that (at one time) believed that "less is more" when it comes to government.

This program was launched in a year with massive deficits, when the per-student stipend was cut by some $250. Teachers were being laid off as the notebooks were being sent out. This program survived 2 such years due to the absolute fear of GOP legislators of the Speaker of the House.

Add to that the fact that Engler's last 8 years of his 12-year term as Governor were basically do-nothing years. The budget bloated, fat from dot-com income tax revenues and tobacco settlement money. This from the guy who got elected to downsize the State government and slash taxes!

I finally wrote the Michigan GOP and told them that I no longer considered myself a Republican. Two years later I await their response.

[rdf]

About MCRI, Connerly's initiative in Michigan, read this and be happy:

---

Affirmative action foes say effort on track
Michigan Civil Rights Initiative says petition deadline will be met
Thursday, November 25, 2004BY DAVE GERSHMAN
News Staff Reporter

The state petition drive and campaign to ban affirmative action in state
government and university admissions may have lost its high profile in
recent months, but it is still active and organizers say they expect to have
enough signatures by January to put the issue before Michigan voters.

The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative says it has more than half of the
nearly 318,000 signatures needed to place a question on the statewide ballot
in 2006.

Legal challenges and controversy forced the group to scrap its plan to place
the question on the November 2004 ballot, but it restarted its campaign in
July, using volunteers and paid signature gatherers.

Once enough signatures are gathered, the group will switch its focus from
the petition drive to a "grass-roots campaign" in support of banning racial
preferences, said Chetly Zarko, MCRI's spokesman.

The campaign started after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2003 to
uphold the University of Michigan Law School's consideration of race in
admissions. At the same time, the court struck down the U-M undergraduate
school's race-conscious policy as too formulaic, but allowed U-M to revise
its admissions policies to still consider race as a factor in increasing
campus diversity.

If the MCRI campaign is successful, Zarko said, it will force U-M to "solve
some real problems" instead of using affirmative action to boost diversity.
U-M should tackle the achievement gap between racial groups in the state's
K-12 schools, Zarko said. A University of California regent, Ward Connerly,
is one of the backers of MCRI, and his organization has helped fund the
campaign in Michigan. The University of California system has stopped using
affirmative action in its admissions.

"The University of California targeted 150 of the lowest performing schools,
sent guidance counselors and professors to try to help schools out," Zarko
said. "That program has had quite a bit of success. I would call that true
affirmative action."

Defenders of affirmative action in Michigan, however, say MCRI has waged a
misleading campaign. David Waymire, a spokesman for Citizens for a United
Michigan, a group of businesses and community leaders, said the MCRI does
not have a groundswell of support.

Waymire said the Michigan ballot question would have widespread effects. He
said it also would hurt programs for women, for example. It would force
schools to end programs for young girls to meet women working in
male-dominated careers, such as engineering, or to add boys to the programs.

"We have racism, we have sexism in our society," Waymire said. "Are we going
to take away all the tools we need to address this?"

The MCRI campaign restarted in July after a three-judge appeals court panel
ruled in its favor in a dispute about the language on its petitions. The
campaign can now essentially choose any 180-day period to gather all of
signatures, as long as it submits them to the state by July 2006, in time
for the November 2006 general election. Rather than wait any longer, Zarko
said, MCRI plans to submit in January 2005 or sooner.

Defenders of affirmative action, such as The Coalition to Defend Affirmative
Action & Integration and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary, or BAMN,
continue to challenge the wording of the MCRI petitions. BAMN has appealed
the appeals court's ruling to the state Supreme Court.

Zarko, however, said he is confident the Supreme Court will uphold the
decision of the appeals court. A spokeswoman for BAMN did not return phone
calls to comment.

A poll by Lansing-based EPIC/MRA, released in April, found 64 percent of
state voters would support the petition language being circulated by MCRI.

http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-11/110138100045770.xml

[Hot Tabasco]

Look at the Red/Blue Michigan map and any moron can see where the problem is and it ain't due to the lack of GOP activity. If this writer can figure out how to convert the socialist UAW to conservatism and convince the rest of the red state to "go forth and multiply" then the GOP will have a chance. Unfortunately the "go forth and multipliers" won't be a factor for another 18 or 21 years.......

[GOP_1900AD]

The issues of outsourcing, the corporate obsession with kowtowing to Communist Red China (and subsequent race for the bottom) and islamic terror cells in your state's midst need to become issues the Michigan GOP owns outright. At that point, you could probably not only get the rank and file to ignore UAW slates, but essentially, you could crack the UAW's back outright.

[Hot Tabasco]

you could probably not only get the rank and file to ignore UAW slates,

Never happen! The rank and file is made up mostly of inner city, uneducated people who do not participate in the hunting sports. I mention the hunting sports because Michigan is a hunting state and there are a lot of UAW members who hunt and do support the Republican party. But once again, look at the blue counties, not very many and each one is centered around the highly populated areas which contain most of the unemployed and government subsidized people and virtually almost all of the UAW membership. Saginaw, Bay City, Flint and Detroit.

A good friend of mine is a millwright for Fords, a fanatical hunter and can not be convinced of the threat to his hunting rights and 2nd Amendment rights by the Democratic party!@ He is the typical brainwashed union thug.

In my opinion, the only way these people will be converted to the dark side is educating them to the advantages of financial investment. Believe it or not, the majority of inner city workers at my UAW plant in Detroit do not take advantage of our 401-k savings program but would rather purchase US Savings bonds. Why? Because they only feel comfortable when they have a paycheck and a savings bond in their hand.......

That is the type of mentality which must be changed before the GOP can make any headway in Michigan.

[yooper]

"This year they also lost 5 state house seats, 3 county commission seats in Macomb County and 4 county commission seats in Oakland County."

She forgot to tote up dogcatchers and drain inspectors.

[SevenMinusOne]

The MI GOP has most certainly become a joke - I have lived here for over 25 years -

But it should also be noted that MI is becoming the new New Jersey - It will be very hard for a Republican to win MI any time in the near future (for the record, the Bush camp never really thought MI was all that in play - it was one of two States they were using head-fakes on Kerry with).

[Dan from Michigan]

The rest of the state county parties need to take lessons from the past 5 years we've done in Livingston County.

Grass roots, smart organization, hard work, social networks, dedicated people, merit based power, no Brooks/McMillin feud, and have a little fun as well.

Granted it's easy to be a Republican here, but being surround by four democrat counties including three strongholds, we don't take anything for granted.

[Dan from Michigan]

But it should also be noted that MI is becoming the new New Jersey

No way. It's still winnable here. Almost all races are still within 5%.

Dems win Jersey by more than 5%. Jersey is much more socially liberal as well, while it's more populist here.

[Dan from Michigan]

BTW - Of the state house losses.

1. UP Seat - The GOP candidate made the mistake of voting against the dove bill. The NRA went hardline on him and paid him back with an undeserved IMO "F" rating(They were much harder on him than Stupak who is much worse). This is winnable in 06 with the right candidate(must be a yooper)

2. (West Monroe) - Milosch was good guy, and I was sorry to see him lose, but that's a tough district, especially the Washtenaw Part of it(Pittsfield Twp). The Dem candidate ran as a pro-gunner as well and split enough dem conservatives in Monroe County from him to pull it off. This is winnable in 06 with the right candidate, especially if Pittsfield doesn't turnout like this year.

3. East Monroe - More dem than West Monroe and a tougher district. I was surprised we almost pulled it off there. I thought that was solid dem.

4. D52(West Washtenaw, part of Ann Arbor) - Very tough defense. The dems are gaining numbers in Scio and AA Twp and I was frankly surprised DeRossett won it in 02. In order for the GOP to make a comeback, they need BIG numbers in the Manchester area, as well as take the Dexter and Chelsea areas big to counter Scio/A2twp/NEA2.

5. Dearborn - We lost that one on straight tickets and Bush's reverse coattails - 8000 vote loss there for Bush.

6. Sanilac County/Port Huron - Total disaster. That's a republican seat that was lost because of some of the stupidest campaign tactics this side of Geoff Fieger. Sanilac County is as conservative as my own county. Port Huron leans dem, but not enough to offset Sanilac. The dem won both.

[SevenMinusOne]

No way. It's still winnable here. Almost all races are still within 5%. Dems win Jersey by more than 5%. Jersey is much more socially liberal as well, while it's more populist here.

Wishful thinking - 4 Prez races in a row - 2 Senators - Just elected liberal Gov in 2002 and the only reason the GOP holds the house in MI is because of RINO'S (plain and simple) -

Lastly, MI was never in the game plan of the GWB reelection effort - It was one of two States used as a head-fake for the Kerry camp. And that is the bottom-line.

[lavrenti]

Believe it or not, the majority of inner city workers at my UAW plant in Detroit do not take advantage of our 401-k savings program but would rather purchase US Savings bonds. Why? Because they only feel comfortable when they have a paycheck and a savings bond in their hand.......

No offense, but even the designer Marxist loonies on the coasts never invest in US Savings bonds. That is ignorance bordering on the suicidal.

[Aetius]

Thanks for the info.