A whole slew of links, articles, audio & video below!
Governor Granholm by LiberalLucy
NOTE: We looked for a photo
for Dick DeVos. If you have
one to share, let us know!
A great place to start is Michigan Elections 2006 from CNN. The first thing that jumped out for me in the races for national seats is that every one of the 15 US House of Representative incumbents and incumbent Sen. Stabenow all won re-election. So much for a titanic swell of change there.
A second item of interest was the 56%-42% margin of victory for Governor Granholm over Dick DeVos, higher than almost any poll had predicted. At the CNN site, you can view the Michigan results by county. Much is being made of the Governor's strong performance in Wayne county, but of equal interest is the fact that the entire Upper Peninsula went for Granholm. Any thoughts as to what happened there?
The Detroit Free Press quotes pollster J. Ann Selzer, who suggests that a major problem for the DeVos' campaign was that they barely topped Granholm in western Michigan and "In a way, they pitted men against women, southeastern Michigan against the rest of the state, and unions against nonunion households. Jennifer Granholm won with big majorities with every group she was supposed to. And she earned votes from groups that were supposed to oppose her." In the Detroit News, pollster Ed Sarpolus suggests that "The Republicans decided to introduce DeVos, not define him." Also check out the Detroit News interactive voting map & state results.
Also check out Governor Granholm's acceptance speech and the concession speech by Dick DeVos.
Change was really seen in the State House where Democrats turned the tables to pick up a six seat majority. The Senate will stay in Republican hands, after late returns showed former Rep. John Pappageorge defeating Andy Levin in Royal Oak, and Rep. Roger Kahn narrowly besting Rep. Carl Williams in Saginaw.
Proposal 1 Conservation Fund (81%/19%)
Proposal 2 Affirmative Action (58%/42%)
Proposal 3 Dove Hunting (32%/68%)
Proposal 4 Eminent Domain (80%/20%)
Proposal 5 School Funding (38%/62%)
If you have any links to add to news stories, blogs or other coverage, please post them in the comments!
17 Comments
What happened in the u.p with Devos I believe is easy, Devos relation to quixtar and amway, and his lack of campaigning there. Over the past 5 years quixtar has been heavy in the u.p. As with most mlm business, 94% fail. Many have failed in the u.p. in this mlm business. Many don't understand success in mlm's is long term not short term.
I think that DeVos suffered from his own success in some ways.
He is a zillionaire, and pretty much tried to buy his way into the Governors office. He was selected by his party because of his deep (and open) pockets and because of his wife's long involvement in the Michigan Republican Party, NOT because he had a track record or a constituency in this state. He certainly wasn't picked for his natural grace, wit and skill as a politician, and I seriously doubt many of the thousands of disappointed and unsuccessful Amway "dealers" in that companies MLM pyramid were eager to see him back in their lives.
The above thoughts often invite comments about being "jealous" or "envious" of his wealth and disliking DeVos simply for the fact
that he's a rich guy. Well, though I am not one, I know a pretty fair number of rich people (none quite as rich as Dick) and some are close, long-time friends. I'm totally comfortable with it, and have no reason whatsoever to judge anyone simply on their bank account or public profile. Jerks occur at all income levels, as do Saints.
But...when the man's chief qualification for the office is his investment portfolio, I DO have a problem with it, and the fact that his wealth comes in large part from choosing good parents makes this doubly true. In looking at his personal accomplishments I just don't see any clue that he is particularly smart or inspired.
The tone and substance of his campaign focused on his not being Granholm instead of what he was going to do different and better than his opponent, so why would I make a deliberate and informed decision to go for a largely unknown and uninpiring candidate? Even when, very late in the campaign, he started wading into "specifics" he still kept things vague and shadowy.
"Get rid of SBT" is something just about everyone can agree on, but just suggesting that "gross receipts" and other taxes would replace replace some of the revenue (while REALLY saying "elect me and I'll figure it out afterward") just doesn't cut it. I live part of the year in a gross receipts state (New Mexico) and that experience informs me that God is in the details. With DeVos, there were no details...he didn't want to get bogged down with them or provide ammunition for his opposition by making concrete proposals for a plan. That was a huge, but understandable, mistake.
Add that to his (and Betsy's) long time support of right-wing political and cultural causes and you see where an 18% win for Jenny comes from.
Granholm is charming, the camera loves her, and she's a damn hard worker. She has programs in place and detailed plans for what's to come. I can be disappointed with some elements of her first term, but by voting for her I at least knew what I was getting.
If DeVos was running against a lesser candidate, his money might have been enough, but he was running against a smart, self-made successful woman with a sound, detailed plan and lots of inspiration.
That's pretty hard to beat.
Michigan is rated number 49 of 50 states economically. Our economy is in the toilet & headed down hill fast. We're losing jobs at an alarming rate and people are leaving our state in droves. I would think that people would like to have this change but, apparently they like it because they voted to keep Granholm in office again. I would take another democrat, republican, or independant over her. I can't imagine anyone doing a worse job with our state than Granholm & now we have 4 more years of this. By the time she's through with our state it's going to be in complete shamblbes. People used to move to Michigan to get jobs. Does anyone remember that? Here's a news flash for you; most of the rest of the states economies are improving. Michigan's economy is declining...hmmm?
Hi Lisa,
I wondered about that and googled news for "national economic numbers". This story from Bloomberg/ AP suggests that the economy is not all that rosy:
I also remember when people moved here to get jobs. There was an this article yesterday from the Detroit News about Google suggesting that Google is finding Michigan a good fit.
Jobs ARE being created in Michigan and now that the campaign is over (in my opinion) we can focus on attracting more. That means the President meeting with the Big Three and our elected officials (Republicans & Democrats alike) putting down their dukes and putting up some proposals.
The problems we're facing in Michigan are just the tip of a national iceberg that is made in large part out of an aging population and ever-improving health care. The auto industry hit that wall but other industries are soon to follow.
This was the first time ever that I voted and everyone and everything I voted for came to pass, never had that happen to me before.
So, is anybody broken up about Rumsfeld? I no I am glad he has finally stepped down for the good of all.
Now, heres' to some real change on a state and federal level!
Lisa:
If I may address what you said about employment. Back in 1997 before I moved here, there were ads in the NJ papers saying to come to Michigan, they were looking to fill technical jobs. Nine years later, the ads are still in the papers in NJ. I have heard stories like workers at Ford were told there would be layoffs and to get better training (which was paid for if they did), and the smart ones did, but quite a few did not. If they refused to accept reality, who is at fault for that? The economy is not as rosy as stated, but here in Michigan (which is one of the 3 top manufacturing states) there are 92,000 unfilled high-tech jobs becuase we lack the skilled workers to fill them. At least under Granholm people are starting to be trained over the past year. Engler truly did make a mess of things and I am willing to give Granholm more time since she has made some progress, but it takes time to get things done. You also conveniently ignore the fact she had a Republican majority congress to work with. Perhaps now that the state house is no longer a Republican majority, the Republicans will wake up and realize they had better work with her and get some things done. At least that is what one would hope.
We have always "billed" ourselves as the top technical country in the USA. If we want to stay that way, there is no way around it, the educational system needs to improve, and the standards need to be tougher. That is what is happening but not fast enough. People who want to do the old maufacturing jobs might just have to move to Mexico or China to get one, that is the way it is.
At least Granholm is for fair trade, not just free trade like DeVos, who was also a quitter and had no discernable plan to do anything.
Give Jenny a chance! You may just end up being wrong (and I will go out on a limb and predict that you will).
Farlane:
Don't forget about the 92,000 high-tech jobs that exist in Michigan but cannot be filled because there are no available workers with those skills to hire.
I was talking to a guy once who owns a Consulting agency that outsources some of the work they get to India, and employ come consultants in MI as well. I can't say for sure if what he said was true, he could easily have been lying, but what he said was that the reason they outsource 97% of the time is because they can't find a worker in MI that can do the job. He said if they find one, they hire them first.
Lisa:
One more thing, since the internet started to be widely used in 1994, the writing was on the wall for globalization, but you could see back in the 70's we were headed in that direction.
You can't blame Granholm for globalization, well, you can, but she didn't do it. If you want to blame the right people, go back to the 70's and going forward from there, find all the politicians who supported global policies, there are plenty on the Republican and Democrat sides. You will find there are lots of people to complain too, some living, some no longer with us (like Reagan for example).
Congratulations to the new honorable Livingston County Probate judge; Carol Hackett Garagiola! Livingston County needs a refreshing changing of the guards(judges) in the court system! I commend all the judges in Livingston County who run their court in a fair & just position!
I do look forward to my next court hearing in front of the honorable Garagiola! My next hearing has to be far better than what I have endured in the courts!
Lisa, thanks for the campaign diatribe, but the election ended last night...haven't you heard?
To blame Michigan's current difficulties (largely a result of the shrinkage of the domestic auto industry) on her is easy, but it's simplistic, knee-jerk nonsense.
The Governor doesn't design or build cars for Ford or GM, or make the larger strategic decisions (miscalculations) that lead them to keep making the same old same old when everyone else could see that fuel prices were inevitably headed upward and that customers actually DO care about quality, reliability and fresh design.
She can't MAKE idiots who think higher education isn't really that important go back to college and join the 21st Century workforce.
Michigan's problems are deeper than any Governor and were decades in the making. They'll certainly need a decade or more to solve.
Take a few minutes away from spewing bile and read this short piece on attitudes about education in our state. It appeared originally in that Granholm mouthpiece, The Detroit News. When I first read it I was stunned....what are these people (our friends and neighbors) thinking??!??
http://www.thenationalforum.or.....fail.shtml
The obvious conclusions made me think of the famous Pogo quote:
" We have met the Enemy, and he is Us"
You can go back to bitching about Granholm if you like, Lisa, but all that means is your Momma was probably one of those people who just don't think book learnin' is all that important, and you're the sad result.
Granholm and the State of Michigan have a lot of work and a long road ahead, and even if everything goes perfectly it will be a long, slow climb out of the hole we've been digging for decades. But a turnaround is underway... education, tax, job training and business regulation reform is happening.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. It won't be easy. It won't be quick. And it will take a motivated, inspired and creative Governor, a Legislature as a full partner, strong support from our educational system, and all the strength and will the people of Michigan can muster.
It's November 8...get over it.
By the way..Cynthia...how did the all-internet polling turn out? Were they on the money with their numbers?
Cris:
I wasn't talking about a poll you just go and click like CNN, you sign up and they e-mail you with polls they have, just like Zogby. I just filled out a post-election poll for Zogby Tuesday night. You can look for yourself here:
http://www.pollingpoint.com/
Yes I do think they are accurate.
Take care,
Cyndi
Cris:
Here is a direct link to the results:
http://www.pollingpoint.com/news/story/2
Cynthia, When you talked about this poll earlier in the discussion I looked at the site and read a bit about it. Very interesting, though I doubt this methodology will replace phone and personal interviews any time soon.
I know major polling firms are working internet results into their figures to try and capture data from non-land line phone users they can't reach otherwise.
It looks like they called both Governor and Senator races pretty close in MI.
Thanks, by the way, for adding your thoughtful posts to the ongoing and sometimes rancorous debate at this site.
What do you think about the absolutemichigan site?
Check out George Weeks' analysis of the impact of the Democrats victory on Great Lakes environmental issues - it's very good!
Cris:
I think this is a good site.
Cyndi
jobs needed to be created for our unemployed workforce. in other words we need new employers, in other words we dont need to tax existing employers more to cover the needs of people who are not working. devos made his own money and this woman has not, she has been paid salaries her whole life and does not have the first clue about creating revenue. she does know a sure fire way to get money though, tax, tax, and more tax. its simple; if you dont work you dont eat.
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