Daddy-Daughter Dance

by Tim Skubick
March 12, 2010

This is a tale of four fathers with daughters.

Let’s start with Bob Bowman.

For two full terms he worked as state treasurer for Gov. Jim Blanchard. “I’ve always been interested in being governor,” Bowman confessed after he left state government.

But the interest remained unexplored until Lt. Gov. John Cherry dropped out of the race for governor at the start of 2010. Bowman’s chance was at hand.

He formed an exploratory committee. But within days, Bowman had pulled out before ever getting in.

In part, the decision was based on the reaction of his daughter. The high school sophomore was two years from graduation and, like most kids her age, wanted to finish high school where she was, with all those old friends at her real home, and not in some “new home” in Michigan.

To be sure, it was not the only reason for Bowman to stay in Connecticut. But best we can tell, it had an impact on Bowman the daddy, which trumped Bowman the would-be governor.

He confided, “maturity sucks.” But he picked kid over career.

Rick Snyder started his family discussion about running for governor over a year ago. His wife brought it up first, and they went to the three kids next. He was concerned about his daughter and how she would react when other kids said nasty things about her dad. After all, he is a nerd.

She said she could handle it and, as he periodically checks in with her, Snyder reports she continues to handle it. Talk to him two months from now when the nasty segment of the campaign may be in full bloom.

Genesee County Democrat Dan Kildee also was caught off guard by the earth-shattering Cherry announcement. He dusted off his desire to be governor shortly thereafter and went to his family, too.

Kildee said his son was all for the bid for governor. His daughter was not, but when he formed his exploratory committee and said, “I intend to run,” he reported that his family was on board.

Maybe the daughter said a prayer? Kildee decided not to run.

House Speaker Andy Dillon was standing in the back of the room waiting to say hi to a bunch of business executives. It was the first of what would be a grueling and unending schedule of thumb-sucker events that candidates must endure to self-promote their candidacy.

As Dillon leaned against the wall waiting to take the microphone, someone noted that he had seen a picture in the newspaper of Dillon and his teenage daughter. It was taken the day before in Dillon’s hometown of Redford, where he and his family launched his bid to be governor.

Any man who has a daughter and saw the photo felt the tenderness between the two.

“That was a really beautiful picture,” the person whispered to Dillon.

He had been so busy, he had not even seen it, let alone had a chance to cherish the moment. And then without prompting he whispered, “Yeah, I won’t see her again until November.”

Voters rarely see the personal sacrifices politicians make in order to serve the public. They never get credit for that from an uncaring electorate. When they are out working a room, daughters and sons, not to mention spouses, are left to keep the home fires burning, wondering when the candidate/parent will be home.

You gotta wonder how many of those on the home front secretly hope the candidate loses.

For Bowman and Kildee, no worries there.

Tim Skubick is Michigan’s Senior Capitol correspondent and has anchored the weekly public TV series “Off the Record” since 1972. He also covers the Capitol and politics for WLNS-TV6 in Lansing.

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You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
In an unbelievable move, some key union leaders have asked former candidate for governor John Cherry to reconsider his decision to drop out of the race.

It is another in a series of unprecedented twists in the Democratic race for governor that has turned this spectacle into a certified train wreck.

Here is the irony.

Last December, when then-candidate John Cherry knew his campaign was about to self-destruct, he went to the UAW and pleaded for its early endorsement. Cherry needed an infusion of money and grassroots support to keep his front-runner campaign alive.

The union stiffed him.

Within a month, Cherry shocked the political establishment by packing it in.

Now, within the last week, the union leaders went back to Cherry hoping he might change his mind. He told them no. Cherry will not confirm any of this, only to say, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

The fact that this happened underscores that some elements in the state’s labor movement are not overjoyed with the current field for governor that includes House Speaker Andy Dillon, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, and Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith.

Each has enough baggage to warrant an attempted re-do on Cherry.

Labor appears to be fragmented, which is not always a healthy sign — and also nothing new.

Dillon is getting the endorsement of the building-trades unions. The leadership was pleased when the Redford Democrat took on Gov. Granholm last year when she wanted to slap a hold on badly needed construction jobs from a proposed coal-fired energy plant.

Bernero may get the UAW endorsement, but there are mixed signals on that.

And Ms. Smith, who clearly has the resume to be governor, is not raising any money, and it appears no one is coming to her rescue.

On top of all that, the Teamsters may be looking at making an endorsement in the other party, which would not be out of character for them.

All of this is reaching critical mass as union leaders are set to huddle behind closed doors on March 12, hoping against hope to find a consensus candidate for governor.

“I think we can,” reflects David Hecker, who runs the Michigan Federation of Teachers.

Based on all these latest signals, Mr. Hecker might want to think again.

Messin’ with Mikey
Michigan’s political landscape is strewn with popular wisdom that turned out to be false. To wit, John Engler can’t beat Gov. Jim Blanchard; Jennifer Granholm can’t beat money bags Dick DeVos; and now comes…Mike Bouchard will disconnect from the governor’s race to seek a more winnable seat in Congress.

Where the heck did that notion come from?

Certainly not from Bouchard, whose campaign sent out a to-the-point statement: “I’m running for governor. I am not running for Congress.”

Nonetheless, seems like all the other campaigns have heard the “rumor” that goes like this: Bouchard’s gov effort is not getting traction despite his impressive $800,000 fundraising; the GOP folks in D.C. want to take out Oakland County incumbent Congressman Gary Peters in the worst way and figure Bouchard is the guy to do it; dissolving the Bouchard-Terri Land ticket would be a twofer for the party, in that Land could run for retiring Congressman Vern Ehlers’ seat in her West Michigan home base and forget about being lieutenant governor with Bouchard.

Far-fetched? Of course. Totally out of the question? Of course not.

Just for the sake of filling out the rest of this blog, let’s assume that the buzz has some gravitas. The first challenge for Bouchard is how does he “message” this thing in a positive way?

His detractors will quickly tag Bouchard with job-hunting for his own personal gain. The story line? Unable to win the governor nomination, political opportunist Mike Bouchard went hunting for a post he might win. When will this guy stop running for every office that opens up?

The tag could stick, but Bouchard could counter it with the following. The party came to me with the desire to win back control of the Michigan congressional delegation so that we could effectively fight President Obama’s socialist policies. If we defeat Peters, and Terri holds onto the GOP seat on the west side of the state, we can do more good for Michigan. So it is with reluctance that I bow out of the governor’s race for the good of the party.

Hogwash, says the Bouchard team while reminding that some of the other contenders for governor would love to undercut his effort by fanning a story that puts El Sheriff in a negative light.

Bouchard’s guys can’t prove that, but they are surely thinking it.

Switalski Hit by Rangel Mess
State Senator Mickey Switalski probably doesn’t know Congressman Charlie Rangel from Adam, but Mr. Rangel has had a profound impact on the senator’s effort to unseat incumbent Congressman Sandy Levin this August in the Democratic primary.

Funny how seemingly unrelated political events can be linked, and in this case the New York congressman’s behavior has influenced the outcome of the contest between the Macomb County senator and the veteran Democratic congressman from Royal Oak.

Check this out. Switalski shocked the political establishment last year by announcing that he would challenge Sandy Levin, who has served in Congress since 1983.

What did the Mickster have to lose? He was term limited out of Lansing, had nowhere to go, so why not take a swipe at the 78-year old incumbent? And if lightening struck, Switalski could trade his senator label for U.S. congressman.

To be charitable to the challenger, it was a long-shot from the get-go, long before Mr. Rangel got into trouble over ethical questions surrounding his personal finances. In the wake of that, Rangel stepped down as chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

And guess who is the new chair?

Much to Switalski’s chagrin, it’s none other than Sandy Levin.

Levin now has control over congressional spending or, if you want to be blunt, he can influence where the pork barrel funds go. Which means he can campaign back here and tell local voters, “if you send me back to Congress I will make sure Michigan gets its fair share of federal support.”

In a battered economy, any ray of hope will be greeted with applause. And how does Switalski counter that?

He might say, “I’m against pork barrel spending.”

But Levin can counter, “So am I, but if other states are going to take it, Michigan is now at the head of the line to get something, too.”

Mr. Levin will milk this chairmanship for all it is worth, and Mr. Switalski can’t do much about it — except send a nasty note to Rangel for messing up what little chance he had of winning in the first place.