First off, to be perfectly clear, in the Michigan gubernatorial election coming up next year, I intend to vote for the Democratic nominee. Gretchen Whitmer is the early favorite, well qualified, very likable, and already active in her campaign.
But even the young and inexperienced Kentiel White would be a thousand times better than whoever the Republicans put forward. Probably some jackass obsessed with tax cuts for the wealthy, who pays lip service to Christian ideals.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, M.D., is also young, only slightly older than White, but he’s already had experience in public office. As director of Detroit’s Health Department, Dr. El-Sayed made sure there was no lead in the drinking water in schools, took steps to reduce infant mortality, started a program to give glasses to poor kids who need them but can’t afford them, etc.
If El-Sayed was Catholic, the pundits would be nervous about his chances for winning the Democratic primary. But he’s Muslim, and some pundits have probably already written him off.
Jack Lessenberry, in his column for the Metro Times last week (I’m still lagging a week behind with these) reminds us about Ismael Ahmed, who ran for a seat on the Michigan Board of Education, a fairly benign office (a powerless office, I think, if I'm not confusing it with the Detroit Board of Education). Ahmed ran and lost.
Not only did he lose, thousands of Democratic voters refused to support him. His running mate [?] John Austin got 1,912,983 votes; Ahmed a mere 1,698,927.
Nearly a quarter of a million Democrats refused to support Ahmed, evidently just because he is a Muslim. Most don’t seem to have voted Republican for that job instead; they just didn't cast [a vote for] a second education board seat at all.
If they won’t vote for a Muslim for a job as low-profile and benign as state education board, do you think they’d vote for one for governor? “I think there’s something to be learned from my experience,” Ish [a nickname for Ahmed], who hasn’t endorsed anyone for governor, said dryly. “I think he (El-Sayed) faces an uphill battle.”
I’m a little confused by this business about a running mate. I remember that there were several candidates for the board and that I could vote for more than one. I don’t remember the maximum you could vote for nor do I remember who I voted for, but I’m pretty sure I voted for fewer than the maximum I could have voted for.
Well, El-Sayed does seem to have the stamina for an uphill battle. Right now I’m leaning to vote for El-Sayed in the primary, but I’m also concerned that he might lose in the general election, just because of racism.
I want to hear more about Bill Cobbs, who seems to both intelligent and concerned with the well-being of the state’s residents (the latter a quality the current governor is deficient in). If elected, Cobbs would be Michigan's first black governor, but so far his campaign does not seem to pose a serious challenge to Whitmer’s.
Kentiel White could theoretically also become Michigan's first black governor, but I wouldn't wager more than a penny on that. White is a nice guy and everything, but he needs more leadership experience, and more life experience in general, for me to take him more seriously in the primary.
Gretchen Whitmer is a woman, but that doesn't worry me because Michigan has already elected a woman governor, namely Jennifer Granholm (D). I’m still waiting for Whitmer to put her positions on her website, but just having a campaign website with top-level domain name puts her ahead of the pack.
Gov. Bill Schuette (R) is a hell no as far as I’m concerned. As attorney general, Schuette has already disappointed me with his misplaced priorities. The first time he argued against same sex marriage, okay, fine, whatever. But he lost and kept going to court over it again and again.
Maybe Schuette hates gay people so much he should be spending his own money on his homophobic court cases, and leave the taxpayer dollars for better causes, like throwing Matty Moroun in jail so the new bridge to Canada can get built without further delay. Also, Schuette opposed straight ticket voting and the 2016 Michigan recount.
But here’s a scary thought: Schuette is not the worst the Republican Party has to offer. Schuette is a lawyer, so presumably he knows the U. S. Constitution and the Michigan Constitution (Donald Trump knows neither).
Maybe Michigan Republicans will nominate some unqualified, failed businessman for governor. Having one unqualified, failed businessman as president is bad enough for Michigan, having another one of those for governor would be devastating.