Poll Tries to Polish Granholm Legacy
July 9, 2010
They are quietly passing out the polish deep inside the Granholm administration as the effort continues to put a little gloss on the governor’s economic track record — which is not breaking any records, to say the least.
Even she is forced to concede that the job she is [...]

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Peas in a Primary Pod
May 21, 2010
At first blush, Andy Dillon and Rick Snyder have zilch in common.
Blush again.
They both emerged from the private business sector into politics. They are more cerebral than they are political animals, by a long shot. If given a chance, they would blow up all the TV cameras, microphones and [...]

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Spread the Sunshine
by Tim Skubick
April 16, 2010
In a sport where timing is everything, the Bernero for Governor team has racked up one impressive win after another.
He was first to defend the domestic auto industry when it was under siege in the nation’s capital. He was first to argue that Lt. Governor John Cherry could not [...]

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Getting to Know You
by Tim Skubick
April 9, 2010
In the midst of the most convoluted governor’s race in modern times, one question keeps popping up: why would anybody want to be governor now?
Aside from the lousy economy and a toxic political environment in town, there’s another good reason to avoid this job at all cost.
The new [...]

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Running Mates
by Tim Skubick
March 26, 2010
You are aware of the silly little game journalists play to see who can be first to write about a story. Be assured that this is the first time you will read anything about the GOP and Democratic nominees for governor thinking about running mates.
How absurd to even think about [...]

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What a Difference a Year Makes
by Tom Shields
March 19, 2010
Just a year ago, the pundits had the Republican Party on the verge of extinction. Time Magazine said, “Republicans have the desperate aura of an endangered species,” and speculated that they could sink to the level of a third party in a two-party system.
John Cherry looked [...]

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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 [...]

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Can the CandidatesDo the Job?
by John Lindstrom
Gongwer News Service
March 5, 2010
Herewith a point of argument that includes a prediction: if the professionals involved in government — that is, the people who work in and around state government, be they bureaucrats, lobbyists, policy analysts, reporters and others — were the only ones who could vote in [...]

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Truth in Advertising
by Tim Skubick
February 26, 2010
When the Snyder for Guv guys were fact-checking their notorious Nerd commercial, they missed one huge error. The announcer claimed that business guy Snyder had a Ten-Point Plan that the typical career politician would not understand.
Turns out, every politician will understand. That’s because much of the Snyder blueprint contains [...]

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Summer Scenario

by Craig Ruff
February 16, 2010
The following events are fictional. Only the players are real.
The Detroit Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference opens on Wednesday, June 2. Downstate in Lansing, the Big Three (Granholm, Bishop, and Dillon) concede that they are solar years away from hatching a budget deal for 2010-11.
Fed-up business, civic, and association leaders gathered [...]

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