by Craig Ruff October 16, 2008 Mom’s nervous. She asks me if she should move into a smaller, cheaper apartment and cancel her costly Saginaw News subscription. A 91-year-old should not have to ask her son these questions. To a farm family in Millington, Mom was born in 1916. She was too young to have [...]

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by Craig Ruff September 16, 2008 In a June essay here on Domemagine.com, I shared some insights by political strategist Matthew Dowd. I want to return to one of those: The public craving for authenticity. Informed and alert voters own superb antennae. They peel back politicians’ veils. They read body language and interpret soaring and [...]

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by Craig Ruff August 16, 2008 The late, great George Carlin challenged and changed forever American stand-up comedy. In inverse homage to him, it’s time to ban the banal in our politics: the seven words and phrases that are downright simplistic, stupid, misleading and boring. Reform Let’s now and forever exile “reform.” It means zilch. [...]

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by Craig Ruff July 16, 2008 It’s championship season once again. The Mayhems and Miracles couldn’t be more representative of the state’s rival populaces. They have dominated for decades, but keep on eye on upstarts, the Visionaries. Coached by a freelancing The Wall Street Journal editorial page editor, the Mayhems exude ferocious morosity. The Mayhems [...]

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by Craig Ruff June 16, 2008 The Center for Michigan hosted political commentator and consultant Matthew Dowd at its May 22 celebration of the first year of Michigan’s Defining Moment. Here are some key take-aways. The American public has historically low confidence in all institutions, including faith, politics, business and the media. The polity trusts [...]

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by Craig Ruff May 16, 2008 Peggy Noonan hatched a pitch-perfect framing of G.H.W. Bush’s effort to succeed Ronald Reagan. I want a kinder, gentler America, said Bush pere at the 1988 GOP nominating convention. How is the comparative doing in 2008? Noonan placed kinder and gentler in at least four subtle contexts. One, Bush [...]

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by Craig Ruff April 16, 2008 Michigan could use less national news coverage. A breathtaking array of antics leaves me wanting to travel under an Ohio alias. The well-intended early Democratic presidential primary ranks high among state miscues. (It brings to mind Napoleon’s march into Russia, described by Winston Churchill as a brilliant strategy…marred only [...]

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by Craig Ruff March 16, 2008 The think-and-do Center for Michigan has thunk and done again, producing a scorecard on Michigan. You will find the scorecard comprehensive yet concise, objective, simple to use and easily updated. It’s the gold standard of standards and deserves to become the primary report card on our wellbeing. According to [...]

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by Craig Ruff February 16, 2008 Michigan’s pols traditionally have been earnest, colorless, incorruptible and temperate. Once in awhile, a real character — brash, intemperate and ethically challenged — flares up, but it’s uncommon. You can credit or blame our beige politics on Yankee, Puritan roots and goo-goo (good government) legacies of the Progressive Era. [...]

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by Craig Ruff January 16, 2008 What times! What customs! Constitutionally, Michigan governors must deliver a message to the legislature at the beginning of each session. We now call them State of the State messages. They speak volumes, literally in some cases, about what bugged the people at that time. For most of the state’s [...]

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