L. Brooks Patterson, the former prosector and current county executive, has been something of the dean of Republican politics in Oakland County, Michigan for some four decades. He is brash, boisterous and at times belligerent. He's tussled with governors and mayors, and never shrinks from a fight. So it was with some surprise that he has taken on the role of the jilted lover. Of John McCain's decision to pull up stakes from Michigan, Patterson moaned:
"We’re blindsided, along with everybody else in Michigan. I feel like I woke up this morning and there was a note on my pillow."
And he's not alone. Everyone from the Michigan Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzis to Michigan McCain campaign chairman Chuck Yob have expressed their extreme displeasure over the announcement.
Anuzis was, to say the least, pissed:
"The McCain campaign announced they were shifting resources and staff out of Michigan to other targeted states. Other states ‘today’ offer a better opportunity for the campaign," Anuzis wrote on his blog, paraphrasing the McCain campaign’s explanation. "We do NOT agree."
That emphasis is in the original news piece, in today's Politico.
Can't you just smell the desperation in Anuzis' letter to the faithful of yesterday?
Dear Fellow Republican,
I am writing to ask for your URGENT assistance by making an immediate contribution of $25, $50, $100 or more. I am sure you’ve heard the news by now that the McCain Campaign decided to pull out of Michigan.
This move leaves a tremendous hole in our ground campaign that we must now fill. That’s why I need you to make an online contribution to the Michigan Republican Party so we can fully fund our Absentee Voter and Get Out The Vote programs that our Republican candidates are counting on.
With just 31 days left, we have a lot of work to do. That’s why I need you to make your contribution of $25, $50, $100, or more today. Your generous contribution will be put immediately to use, funding Absentee Voter and Get Out The Vote programs so vital to victory.
I won’t sugar coat it; the McCain Campaign’s decision to pull out of Michigan is a tough blow. But we cannot let it deter us. Our priorities have not changed. We must keep Chief Justice Cliff Taylor on the Supreme Court, reelect Congressmen Tim Walberg and Joe Knollenberg and our entire Congressional Delegation, protect our state House Republicans, and help Jack Hoogendyk in his battle against Carl Levin.
By making your online contribution today of $25, $50, $100, or more you will be helping elect Michigan Republicans and making sure we can fund the voter programs we need for victory.
Sincerely,
Saulius "Saul" Anuzis
Yob was even more emphatically, well, outraged. So much so that he chose to express his anger, not to McCain, but to Sarah Palin. As this letter (h/t to kos) was reprinted in full on web already, I have no trouble in doing so again:
From: CHUCK YOB
Date: Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 5:34 PM
Subject: Dear Governor Palin from Chuck Yob
To:
Governor Palin,
I saw your comments on Fox News today and described in the Detroit
Free Press article below. I wholeheartedly agree with you that the
decision by the McCain campaign to pull out of Michigan was the wrong
decision.
We have all been wrong at times, and I think this is a decision that
will be corrected in a couple of weeks. We were ahead three points as
of a week ago according to MRG, a polling firm that I trust more than
any national pollster.
I talked to Michigan Republicans and McCain supporters on a conference
call last night and they vowed to redouble their efforts. Indeed,
there will still be a campaign for John McCain in Michigan whether it
is sanctioned by the professionals in Washington DC or not.
Senator McCain has great appeal to Michigan voters dating back to his
2000 campaign. He is a Maverick, independent-minded leader who has
bipartisan appeal to the voters of our state. He is the perfect
Presidential candidate for Michigan.
I also strongly believe that you are the best possible Vice
Presidential choice for Michigan. You kicked Joe Biden's butt in the
debate yesterday by showing your blue collar appeal and highlighting
why Senator McCain's plans for tax cuts, increased energy supply, and
strong foreign policy are what is needed for our country's future. We
also know that Obama's tax increases, $1 trillion spending promises,
and willingness to befriend dangerous rouge leaders is not the right
prescription for our problems.
Democrats have failed the workers of Michigan. Michigan voters know
that when Jennifer Granholm increased taxes it cost Michigan jobs.
Michigan voters know when Kwame Kilpatrick promised new leadership for
Detroit it led to failure. Most importantly, Michigan voters know
that Barack Obama's association with Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko, and other
questionable individuals had important roles in developing his
worldview that is dangerous for our future.
I agree with what you said on Fox News today and I hereby invite you
to come to Michigan immediately. The good people of Macomb County,
Northern Michigan, the Upper Peninsula, and Grand Rapids await your
response.
Your Friend and Loyal Supporter of McCain-Palin 2008,
Chuck Yob
Michigan Co-Chairman
McCain-Palin 2008
Republican National Committee Member 1989-2008
Former Vice Chairman, Republican National Committee
PS: I look forward to talking to you and Senator McCain about
this. You can reach me at XXX XXX XXXX
PSS: We have MANY requests for Todd to come to Michigan.
[Text emphasis added.]
For her part, Palin says she disagrees with the McCain's decision to prematurely withdraw:
Clearly, McCain is in electoral triage mode now. He's bleeding profusely in several Bush 2004 states (Nevada, Colorado, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, and maybe N. Carolina), and the patient probably died in Iowa and New Mexico. So, a pullout from Michigan with hopes of stanching the bleeding elsewhere and overtaking Obama in Pennsylvania may be his only path to victory.
Look for Pailn to do something "mavericky," and make a campaign stop in Michigan in the event that the polls start to show that McCain may not be as far bak as the public polls are showing and his internals must be confirming. It would act as something of a whipsaw maneuver and likely do wonders for the base, while showing Palin to be a bold decision-maker, willing to take on "the boss" when she disagrees. (Of course, the campaign would have to spin this so as to avoid the obvious upstaging of McCain that such a move would present.)
A move like this would be completely in keeping with the sort of impetuous gut-level decision-making--the Palin pick; the "suspension"--that has epitomized this campaign, and the type of talking from both sides of his mouth that has defined it.
I don't trust McCain as far as I can throw the bus L. Brooks Patterson says McCain threw the Michigan GOP under, and Oakland County GOP executive director Diane Harnisch said McCain campaign staffers told her and other party officials here in a Thursday night conference call that the withdrawal is not complete, as some staff will remain, and that there is, in fact, a means to for McCain to come back in. Hell, they could announce it as jaw-droppingly suddden as they announced the pull-out.
Meanwhile, the jilted L. Brooks stares at the note on the pillow and fumes.