In a move that surprised no one, Attorney General Bill Schuette (R-Michigan) announced last week that he’s running for governor. Schuette hopes to succeed the term-limited Gov. Rick Snyder (R), who, honestly, is all around limited.
Also not surprising is that Donald Trump (R) tweeted an endorsement of Schuette, given that Schuette helped insure Michigan’s Electoral College votes went red, but misspelled the guy’s name as “Shuette,” according to the Metro Times.
Whoever the Democrats nominate will be a thousand times better than Schuette. Even long shot Kentiel White, who is definitely not an experienced elected official like Schuette, but who does seem to have a genuine desire to look out for the people, not just feed his political ambition like Schuette.
For those of you who need further convincing, please look over the following lists. The commenters will quite likely bring up other reasons not to vote for Schuette.
Things Schuette has opposed as attorney general
- Marriage equality — I can respect Schuette for the first time he went to court to argue that gays don’t have the right to marry, even though he lost. You need devil’s advocates to build case law. But then he lost a second and a third time and kept going back. I somehow doubt this is what the taxpayers who voted for him were expecting. The pollsters tell us that Michigan has become more accepting of gays. So continuing the anti-gay crusade at taxpayer expense is about Schuette endearing himself to “conservative” “Christians” who want to demonize gays in order to distract from the crimes and sins of the wealthy. It is also proof that Schuette‘s priorities are not aligned with the voters’ priorities.
- Straight ticket voting — Because some Republicans (like Trump) need every possible advantage they can get at the ballot box. Gerrymandering to favor the Republicans is not always enough to sweep their awful candidates into office. I personally don’t use straight ticket voting, even when I vote almost all-Democrat. The option should be available to whoever wants to use it. Including those who want to vote against their self interests by voting all-Republican. Also including those who want to waste their votes by voting all-Green or all-Libertarian.
- Jill Stein’s Michigan recount — No one expected Stein (Green) to pick up Michigan’s Electoral College votes on the recount. But Schuette was probably afraid Trump’s narrow lead over Hillary Clinton (D) would vanish if the recount went ahead. So thanks a lot, Schuette, I don’t know if my vote for Clinton in November was counted.
- Marijuana legalization — Speaking of green, Schuette has opposed medical marijuana. Surely the criminalization of recreational marijuana puts enough people in for-profit prisons? Supposedly, Schuette is concerned that medical marijuana exposes children to the drug. By the way, the Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association donated $91,225 to Schuette's 2010 campaign and $56,255 to his 2014 campaign. Any concern about children being exposed to beer and wine, Billy? Many thanks to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network for the numbers.
Things Schuette might be able to accomplish, but hasn't so far
- Shut down Enbridge Line 5 before it ruptures and contaminates Lake Michigan with God knows how many gallons of light crude oil, and other stuff that shouldn’t be floating in a lake. Granted that it’s a complex problem, but I wonder if Schuette is moving as quickly on this as the voters would like him to. Enbridge Line 5 will break. The question is when, and how. It has the potential to make Flint look like a minor screw-up.
- Put Snyder in jail for his part in the Flint water contamination. Some officials have been charged and Snyder has asked for state money to pay top-notch lawyers to defend him, but Schuette hasn’t even charged Snyder with anything yet.
The Democratic nomination as it stands today
Now it’s looking much more certain that Schuette will be the Republican gubernatorial candidate. Schuette is in no hurry to bring Snyder into a courtroom because he doesn't want Lt. Gov. Brian Calley to step up to the governor’s office.
On the Democratic side, the favorite is Gretchen Whitmer, whose experience as a state legislator is one advantage she has over the other Democratic hopefuls.
It’s a good thing the governor is elected by the popular vote, not by a state analogue of the Electoral College. But because of runaway gerrymandering, a Democratic governor will most certainly face a Republican majority in the state legislature.
That’s a reality candidates like Bill Cobbs and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, M.D. also need to think about. You may have seen ads here on Daily Kos for Shri Thanedar. Well, he has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the primary.
Even so, Thanedar would still be a far better choice than Schuette. Thanedar is a millionaire by the sweat of his own brow. He made and lost a fortune in the chemical analysis business and then made another.
Schuette inherited his millions and could regard his political career as a hobby if he wanted to. Hopefully in January 2019, Schuette will have to pick something else to do with his time. Like maybe professional golf?
As for who should succeed Schuette as attorney general (he’s term-limited out), here’s a great suggestion: Dana Nessel, who has beaten Schuette in court on the issue of marriage equality.