Shades of Fieger

August 27, 2010

Check this out: “[His] anger appeals to people who feel left out of the system,” “he did best among Black voters in Detroit,” he’s “running against his own mouth.”

You’re thinking those are references to the Democratic nominee for governor, Virg Bernero, right?

Nope. It’s former Democratic candidate for governor Geoffrey Fieger, circa 1998. Unless things turn around quickly for the “Virg,” someone will tag him as the next Fieger.

Bernero starts 19 points down in the polls against Rick Snyder, the GOP nominee. Fieger started behind, never got within striking distance of Gov. John Engler and ended up losing by 24 points.

But there is a major difference now.

Back then, nobody expected Fieger to beat Engler. At least no one has reached that conclusion yet about the Lansing mayor. He is the underdog, but his defenders claim: “Don’t underestimate Bernero.”

They did underestimate him during the primary, as most felt he could not beat House Speaker Andy Dillon.

But Snyder is no Dillon. The Ann Arbor business guy actually has a well-oiled campaign machine, and it’s unclear if Bernero can find enough monkey wrenches to gum up the works. But he will try and has a better shot than Fieger did against Engler.

Having said that, there will be some signs along the way to suggest that Bernero is headed to Fiegerland. One indicator will be the rest of the Democratic ticket, which could stiff Bernero if he looks like he will tank. Think rats jumping off the ship.

If the next two or three polls suggest that Bernero is not making any gains on the front runner, you can expect to see a repeat of 1998, when lots of Democrats ignored Fieger — including one Jennifer Granholm, who was running for attorney general at the same time. The two were never…repeat, never…seen in the same place at the same time. Think plague.

But before the Snyder team declares victory and heads for the beach, keep in mind that Bernero has not begun to fight. And he has one major coalition that Fieger never had: most of organized labor.

So look for an onslaught of anti-Snyder ads, as Democratic Party chair Mark Brewer has spent hours pawing over the internal documents of the Gateway computer company that Snyder once ran. The “findings” will suggest that the one-time CEO is no friend of the little guy and lined his own wallet at the expense of those little guys.

Snyder dismisses all this as untrue, but when did that ever stop Brewer from pitching it just the same?

However, Bernero also walks a fine line. He can beat up Snyder, but savvy independent voters want to hear more than just that. They want a reason to vote for Bernero not necessarily against Snyder. In fact, if it’s anti-Snyder all the time, Bernero can pretty much kiss this thing adios.

Which is why the debates are so critical. Fieger had none with Engler. Bernero hopes to have at least three. Depending on how both these guys perform, the meetings could be game changers. Bernero needs them more than Snyder, so the stakes are higher for the “Virg.”

Hence, Bernero begins his uphill climb with the pundits poised to write him off as Geoffrey Fieger-lite without the personal wealth.

But Mr. B. has no intentions of joining Mr. F. in the loss column.

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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Inside Out
The Snyder insider revealed the strategy about six weeks ago, and this week the candidate confirmed it. He, indeed, picked a legislator with hands-on experience — which Mr. Snyder lacks — to be his running “partner.”

In fact, without knowing it, Mr. Snyder underscored that point when he noted that Rep.Brian Calley “can hit the ground running on Day One.”

Mr. Snyder cannot say the same thing about himself, since he is the consummate political outsider.

At some point, somebody is going to ask, “which is it?”

If the GOP candidate for governor wants somebody who has Day One credentials, why wouldn’t the voters wonder why the guy at the top of the ticket doesn’t have the same resume?

Ken Sikkema, the former Senate leader and Republican who was on the list for lieutenant governor himself, warned about picking insiders for the Snyder team. He says it is all about “branding,” and by going inside, Sikkema figures, Snyder runs the risk of taking the pop out of his outsider brand that was so popular with voters on August 3.

And that’s the way Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer sees it, as he clobbered Calley as the insider who has ties to the established power hierarchy at the Capitol.

So which is it?

But Mr. Brewer cannot have it both ways either. He’s got a candidate who ran from the outside against insider and House Speaker Andy Dillon. But Virg Benero is a child of the legislative process and has been on that career path from the first day he cracked a book at Albion College.

Since he does not need an insider to get the job done on Day One, Bernero is looking for an outsider to balance the ticket that way.

At the end of the day, however, it’s unlikely that voters will pick a candidate for governor based on his sidekick’s credentials…in or out of government.

Another Hail Mary
It appears that Mike Bishop is picking up where his buddy from Oakland County, Mike Bouchard, left off with the Hail Mary passes.

In an 11th hour, last desperation gasp to jump-start his sagging campaign for governor, Bouchard reversed field and went full bore on the Right to Work issue. It failed to be right or work.

Now comes GOP attorney general candidate Mike Bishop, with his transparent attempt to squeeze some badly needed political juice out of the Arizona immigration mess. This comes on the eve of the state GOP convention, where another A.G. contender, Bill Schuette says he’s fixin’ to wup Mr. Bishop.

Bishop, dropping into the backfield, a la Bouchard, and on behalf of the Senate GOP caucus, has filed a legal brief to join the Arizona lawsuit against the Obama administration as it attempts to nip this law in the bud.

Can you say pandering?

Mr. Bishop can’t and won’t, as he sees this as totally appropriate since Michigan has borders with a foreign country. Never mind that not one soul in this state has made any noises about Michigan facing the same kind of “illegal” problems similar to Arizona.

But then, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good pander.

Bishop’s political brain trust saw an opportunity and seized it. As for it’s impact on Bishop’s candidacy, we’ll know the outcome of that this weekend.

Anyway, it got him some free media attention and underscored his ultra-conservative credentials, especially with the Tea Party crowd. And it just might work…if some of those disgruntled Arizona residents show up at the Breslin Center this weekend to vote for their guy Mike.