This Week's Topics
- Peter Cummings, David Brandon Won't Run in 2006
- Are Democrats Too Soft on Social Conservatives?
- GOP Targets African American Voters
- Granholm's Approval Ratings Take Another Hit
- State Legislature Update
- Miscellany
Peter Cummings, David Brandon Won't Run in 2006
The Associated Press reported on Sunday that two potential Republican candidates for statewide office in 2006 have decided not to run.
Peter Cummings, a real-estate developer from Oakland County, ruled out a challenge to Senator Debbie Stabenow because the recent death of his father-in-law, Max Fisher, has forced him to look after his family's financial holdings and philanthropic work.
David Brandon, the CEO of Ann Arbor-based Domino's Pizza, was a little less categorical in his decision not to run against Governor Jennifer Granholm. Right now I just love my job, and I am doing what I want to do," he told The Ann Arbor News for a Sunday story. "There's a time and a place for everything and right now my time and place is Domino's Pizza."
On Tuesday, George Weeks of the Detroit News repeated his prediction that the GOP will mount a strong challenge to Senator Stabenow. Weeks threw two more names into the mix: Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, who would become the "instant front-runner" if she decides to run; and businessman Nasser Beydoun, aformer executive director of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce. Neither has announced.
Are Democrats Too Soft on Social Conservatives?
On Sunday, Peter Luke of Booth Newspapers took Michigan Democrats to task for failing to stand up to Republican social conservatives. Luke cited Senator Stabenow's support for the Terri Schiavo bill and Governor Granholm's lukewarm opposition to Proposal 2, the anti-same sex marriage proposal. He implied that both decisions were prompted by political abundance of caution, and that a majority of Michigan voters disagreed with the hard-line GOP stance on both issues. His column concluded, "It shouldn't be hard for Democrats to provide an alternative view to the one being advanced by social conservatives now ascendant in the Republican Party. But, apparently, it is.
GOP Targets African American Voters
An article in Sunday's Detroit News focused on the Republican Party's efforts to win over African American voters. The party has set the bar high, aiming for 30 percent of the vote in the 2008 election. That's 19 points higher than George W. Bush's nationwide share of the African American vote last November.
The GOP does even worse in Michigan than nationally; only five percent of Michigan's African Americans voted to re-elect Bush. That's the bad news. The good news, according to Detroit News pollster Steve Mitchell, is that in a state as closely divided as Michigan, even a small number of party switchers can make a big difference.
Issues that the Republicans hope to capitalize on include Social Security privatization, school choice, and opposition to gay marriage. But skeptics think the party has a bigger problem to overcome: Condi Rice and Colin Powell notwithstanding, it's still an overwhelmingly white party.
Granholm's Approval Ratings Take Another Hit
According to the latest EPIC/MRA poll, Governor Granholm's job approval ratings has dropped to an all-time low. Fifty-one percent of Michigan voters now approve of her performance, down five percent since January. Forty-eight percent disapprove.
The economy weighs heavily on voters' minds. Michigan's unemployment rate now stands at 7.5 percent, worst in the country and two percent higher than the national average.
Ed Sarpolus of EPIC/MRA said that Granholm hasn't moved quickly enough on her proposals to overhaul Michigan's single business tax and $2 billion in bonds to fund her "Jobs Tomorrow" initiative. He adds that the most troublesome region for Michigan Democrats is the area stretching from Bay City through Saginaw and Flint. These areas have some of the worst unemployment in the Lower Peninsula, and are the home to blue-collar conservatives Bush targeted last November.
State Legislature Update
The legislature is in recess until Tuesday, April 12.
Online, No One Knows You're a Dog. Or Worse. The Senate is considering a bill that would regulate online dating sites. The proposal would require sites such as Match.com to disclose whether it performs criminal history checks. Sites also would have to disclose the limitations of background checks and urge "safe dating practices." The bill faces an uncertain future. Critics question whether the state should act as a "net nanny" for adults and, more importantly, whether background checks would do any good since ex-offenders can register under phony names.
Congressman Schwartz Stumps for State Universities As a state senator, U.S. Representative Joe Schwarz (R-Battle Creek) was a staunch defender of state universities, especially his alma mater, the University of Michigan. The Detroit Free Press's weekly Poli-Bytes column reported that Schwarz was back in Lansing, urging state legislators to spend more money on higher education. He urged lawmakers to create a separate, untouchable fund for universities and to earmark business tax revenues for universities, even if that meant raising other state taxes.
Mandatory Treatment for the Mentally Ill. On Wednesday, "Kevin's Law" took effect. The law, named for a man killed by a mental patient in 2000, gives courts the power to a person with a history of mental illness to go into treatment if he is considered dangerous and refuses to take his medication. A sponsor of the law, estimates that fewer than 400 people a year, most of them severely paranoid schizophrenics, would be subject to forced treatment. About half the states have similar laws.
Democrats Propose Minimum Wage Hike. Earlier this session, House Democrats introduced legislation that would raise the minimum wage. Under their proposal, the hourly minimum would rise in stages to $7.15 an hour by January 2007. If the Republican-controlled legislature refuses to go along, organized labor is prepared to put the issue on the ballot in 2006.
A Small Step Toward Early Voting. The Republican House leadership is backing a bill that would allow limited early voting. Voters could cast their ballots at their local clerk's office during the week leading up to the election without having to give a reason why they can't go to the polls on Election Day. The proposal, which would require a voter to appear in person and show ID at the clerk's office, falls short of Governor Granholm's call for "no-reason" early voting by mail. In fact, Lansing State Journal political editor Chris Ward suggests that the issue may wind up on the 2006 ballot.
Illegal Procedure! Lawmakers Target High School Steroid Use. Representative Daniel Acciavatti (R-New Baltimore) introduced a bill that would require schools to ban steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, and punish offenders with loss of eligibility to play. The banned list is expected to be similar to that used in college sports.
Miscellany
Opponents of dove hunting appear to have submitted enough petition signatures to force a referendum on a 2004 law allowing hunts on a trial basis....Governor Granholm released details of her "Jobs Today" initiative. It includes 40,000 short term jobs, many of them in the construction industry tearing down or renovating school buildings and upgrading nursing homes....Legislative Democrats plan a series of town-hall meetings across the state to promote the governor's "Jobs Tomorrow" and tax-reform proposals. They've released a preliminary schedule of meetings, which will be held between April 19 and June 27....Even though the State Senate has passed a bill that would make motorcycle helmet use optional for riders older than 21, most residents feel the law shouldn't be changed. An EPIC/MRA poll shows 71 percent of state residents in favor of keeping the helmet requirement....Governor Granholm will nominate Paul Mitchell as one of the State Board of Canvassers' two Democratic members. Earlier this year, the Senate refused to re-confirm Dorothy Jones, arguing that last year, she ignored her duty to certify petitions for the anti-gay marriage amendment and the GOP effort to get Ralph Nader on the ballot as an independent.