Lt. Gov. Brian Calley never had a prayer of winning the Republican nomination to succeed his boss, Rick Snyder.
Bill Schuette had it sewn up before the campaign even started; he blew Calley out of the water, beating him by slightly more than two to one. Lieutenant governors, like vice presidents, are always at a disadvantage: They get blamed for all the bad of their previous administration.
But they get no credit for anything good. Calley was always going to be the understudy for the man who poisoned Flint. His doom was sealed even before he attempted to kick off his campaign with a wretched, botched attempt to accomplish what was almost universally seen as a bad idea: Making the legislature part-time without getting rid of term limits.
Odds are that he will now go back to the banking industry from whence he came, and be politically reduced in a few years to an item on a trivia quiz played by bored Lansing reporters during boring legislative sessions.
But on his way out, he did say something profound. When he could no longer ignore the mounting tallies against him, Calley faced the camera and made a short YouTube statement.
“The reality is that this is President Trump’s Republican Party. His chosen candidates win Republican primaries. We see it happening all across the country,” he said, smiling wanly.
Bingo.
Calley, who then congratulated Schuette and his family, didn’t seem bitter. He appeared to be just stating the obvious, and he was absolutely right, perhaps more so than he knew.
Donald Trump does own today’s Republican Party, as completely as Sauron owned the souls of the Ringwraiths in the Lord of the Rings. Republicans who are opposed to Trump are either no longer in the party, or meekly hiding somewhere.
Those Republicans who can’t tolerate Trump’s horrendous vulgarity, non-stop, convulsive lying, or lack of total respect for the history and traditions of the presidency either are 1) Ohio Gov. John Kasich 2) have already left the party, or 3) are mutely hiding as decent democracy dies.
The rest seem to regard themselves as existing mainly to pay homage to the master, and/or clean up his messes.
Politically, this is, indeed, the Age of Trump. John James, a young black Iraqi war veteran, was trailing his opponent for the GOP nomination for the Senate this year.
Sandy Pensler, his rival, was a Grosse Pointe businessman who had thrown millions of dollars into the race, and seemed a much more typical GOP choice.
Yet then the Great Yellow God spoke.
And lo, John James won by nine points, carrying every county south of Saginaw, even Macomb, not a place likely to smile kindly on a cocky young black fighter jock. Indeed, the reality is that this is the party of Donald Trump.
This is not about ideology, or values, or a consistent or even pseudo-consistent set of ideas. Being a Republican today means believing what matters most is the will of Donald Trump.
That has nothing to do, however, with being an American.
Talk about sharp contrasts: Consider the two portraits of this nation presented by those voting in Michigan’s primary.
For Democrats, this year has marked a vast affirmation of women in politics – “pissed-off women,” as the pundit Susan Demas put it on my radio program, the day after the election.
Not only did Michigan Democrats nominate women for both governor and U.S. Senator, they nominated a record six women for seats in Congress. Three are certain winners — Brenda Lawrence, Debbie Dingell and Rashida Tlaib; one black, one white and one Arab and Muslim.
Haley Stevens in the 11th district is probably a slight favorite, and Elissa Slotkin has at least an even chance to defeat lackluster two-term congressman Mike Bishop, a man who for years has been heavily funded by Matty Moroun.
That leaves Gretchen Driskell, who needs to convey a little more energy but who could, if the stars were properly aligned and the blue wave adequately high, beat Tim Walberg, a onetime manager for the Moody Bible Institute, who in a decade in Congress has attempted little and accomplished less.
Democrats will also nominate women for Michigan Secretary of State and Attorney General; the only remaining slot where there is possibility of a male statewide candidate is lieutenant governor, but that’s up to Whitmer herself,
Lest you think I am horrified at the thought of an all-female ticket, consider that until 1978, all candidates for statewide offices on both tickets were always men.
Republicans do have one woman running for Congress — Lena Epstein, a Vesco oil heiress who wasn’t the establishment’s first choice, but who spent $1.6 million for the chance to compete against Haley Stevens this fall.
So what will happen?
This will be a bloody, nasty and expensive battle. Schuette will stop at nothing to get elected. Democrats, too, will spend a lot to try and win every race they can.
But if you want a clue to the final outcome: Though both parties had hotly contested statewide primaries for governor, 53.2 percent of all voters chose Democrats, not Republicans.
Usually, more Republicans turn out for primary elections than Democrats. That number above sounds to me like a good estimate of Gretchen Whitmer’s final vote total in November.
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Worst outcome of this year’s primary: State Sen. Steve Bieda, sometimes referred to as the conscience of the legislature, lost a campaign for the Democratic nomination for Macomb County Clerk to Fred Miller, a relic of Macomb’s bad old days best known for losing two years ago to Karen Spranger, who was, on her best days, screaming batshit crazy.
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Weirdest outcome: State Sen. David Knezek, a fast-rising Democratic star, was defeated for renomination by one Betty Jean Alexander, a single 53-year-old mom who didn’t campaign, hasn’t been seen in public and who no one knew anything about, except that she seems to be a puppet of former State Rep. LaMar Lemmons III, who said “she isn’t up for these types of questions,” and “yours truly” would answer them.”
“She’s really hesitant and afraid, but I will be there by her side,” Lemmons intoned. Swell. His own pet senator.
But how the hell did this happen?
Simple: Knezek, an Iraq war veteran, didn’t bother to campaign. There evidently was some resentment in the Detroit part of his district that he was white and hadn’t supported Mayor Mike Duggan’s D-insurance scheme.
And so the veteran fell to a sneak attack.
Good luck to his poor constituents. Did anybody ever tell them that casting an informed vote would be a good idea?
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C’mon Now: No doubt about it: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won one of the most stunning upset victories of this or any recent election year, when she took on insider Congressman Joe Crowley in a New York congressional primary this May. Crowley had the money, all the experience and virtually all the endorsements.
And Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old who was a barista barely a year ago, beat him like a drum. “The way progressives win is by expanding the electorate,” she told supporters.”
Fair enough, and she and her campaign should be an inspiration. Except … why was she in Michigan last week, endorsing primary candidates for Congress and governor?
After all, she still hasn’t even been elected to Congress … wouldn’t you think her first task ought to be to get a handle on her district, what it needs and how Congress works?
I know she was once in Flint briefly, but — come on. Does she really have any sense of who Michigan politicians are, or this states’ political history? She’s definitely someone to watch.
But she, and those exhibiting her as a totem, might do well to be a little cautious; there is such a thing as overreach.
