by Tom Shields
November 16, 2008

It was about eleven o’clock on election night. Scanning the Internet for election results, it became increasing clear: Cliff Taylor was going to lose his post on the Michigan Supreme Court, and lose big. He was losing Oakland County, getting beat 2-1 in Wayne County, and barely winning in Republican strongholds Kent and Allegan counties.

By night’s end, Taylor would lose by more than 10 points to a candidate so unqualified that even the Detroit Free Press editors couldn’t bring themselves to endorse her over a judge they loathe. And, as much crap that we have all given Mark Brewer for all the stupid political stunts he has pulled over the past few years, he’s due credit for being smart enough to hook the Hathaway wagon to the Obama victory train to pull her over the finish line.

For the first time in years, the Democrats knew who the right candidate was for the top court spot. Meanwhile, the Republicans were confused. And Independents voted for the woman on the ballot who wasn’t “asleep on the job.”

While this certainly was a tough and humbling personal loss for Taylor, it more importantly marked the end of the Engler era in Michigan Republican politics.

For the past six years the Supreme Court has stood guard over Engler’s legacy of a conservative court and conservative legislative agenda, much as the Knights of the Round Table guarded the Holy Grail. But, when you combine Taylor’s loss with the Republicans’ loss of the governorship, no hope of controlling the state House, lost control of the congressional delegation, and a party outspent by two or three to one, it’s clear the Engler era has ended.

Frankly, it is about time.

No longer can Michigan’s Republican Party or political leadership live off the successes of the Engler era in Michigan politics. If the Republican Party is going to succeed in the future, the elected Republican leadership has to forge its own path to develop its own legacy.

The public’s perception of political parties is only as deep as the most recent president, Congress, governor, and legislative leadership’s record in office. So, until the Republicans put forth something fresh, they will be the party of George W. Bush.

If you thought that the Democrats went overboard in hooking every Republican candidate to Bush’s hip in this last campaign, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Everything negative that happens in the next two years will be the fault of Bush Policies, the Bush Economy, the Bush Market Collapse, the Bush Bail-0uts, the Bush War in Iraq…

The Bush era will continue much longer than Republicans would like. Or, until they do something to change it.

Public perception of the Republican Party over the next two years is going to rise or fall with the actions of Republicans in office, and the candidates they put forward in 2010.

If the Republicans are truly the party of smaller government, less spending, lower taxes, better education, and personal accountability, and the protectors of the free enterprise system, right now is the time to show it. There’s never been a time when leadership on these fundamental American principles has been more needed.

Republicans need to stop going after the drunken sailor vote and start spending taxpayers’ money like it was their own.

It’s time they realize that corporate welfare is not okay just because it’s for their friends.

In Washington, Republicans need to clean house. They have coddled too many crooks in office just because they are members of their caucus.

Supporting personal accountability and corporate accountability means taking a critical look at this bailout bonanza that is sweeping our state and nation. Everyone from Blue Cross to the Big Three to those buying homes they could not afford to the Detroit School Board is lining up to board the gravy train.

The end of an era does not mean the end of the Republican Party. It’s an opportunity to begin the next era.

Without a Republican president or governor, the responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Republican leadership in Washington and Lansing. How Republicans take up the mantle may set the stage for a Republican comeback in 2010, or recur as a haunting reminder of everything that went wrong this year.

Tom Shields is founder and president of Marketing Resource Group, a Lansing-based political marketing and public relations firm.