For those who aren't familiar with the new 14th Congressional District here in Michigan, it's a hell of a thing to see. Take a gander:
As a result of this monstrosity, which somehow manages to connect Pontiac to the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, we have a rather ugly Democratic primary coming to a head in 3 weeks, pitting incumbent Rep. Gary Peters against incumbent Rep. Hansen Clarke, with Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence and a couple of others in the mix for good measure.
Anyway, the Oakland Press, one of the 4 major local newspapers, just issued their endorsement for Gary Peters. Given that the Oakland Press is considered a strongly Republican-leaning paper, it's quite an eyebrow-raiser.
The Peters endorsement itself is unusually strong, but this isn't surprising because the OP openly admits that the new 14th is a virtual lock for the Dems anyway, so they might as well go with the most center-leaning Democrat of the bunch (Peters is actually quite progressive on social issues, and isn't too bad on financial ones, although he is a bit Blue Doggy on taxes and deficit reduction). Plus, he lives in Oakland County himself (and a very nice part of it, Bloomfield Hills), so there's the home town boy factor.
However, take a look at the final paragraph for the real stunner:
Meanwhile, voters should consider the monstrous shape of the district when they weigh the candidacies of those incumbent Republicans running for re-election to the Michigan House of Representatives. All of those from Oakland County supported creation of the 14th district, poorly serving their constituents.
As a resident of the area, this is a bit of a jaw-dropper, coming from the Oakland Press. They decided to go the extra mile and throw in a strong indictment of the entire state GOP legislature, slamming them
hard for drawing such a ridiculous district in the first place.
Believe me, if you were familiar with the Oakland Press, you'd be as stunned by this as I am.