The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

I have some Michigan related news that is positive and negative. Some good news is that we are just awaiting for Gov. Jennifer Granholm to sign the bill for the bill for the early primary.

From "That's Saul, Folks!"

• - The House of Representatives today passed the “deal” for the presidential primary to be scheduled on January 15th of 2008. Minutes after final passage, the State Senate voted unanimously to concur in that vote and granted the bill immediate effect. The Governor has said she will sign the bill when it gets to her desk!

Read more

But I do have some bad news. Michigan polls have Mitt Romney leading in Michigan for the Republicans. I guess I shouldn't be too stunned.

From Detroit News

• Clinton, Romney ahead in Michigan
• But GOP race is tight in newly important state primary; good news seen for Edwards, McCain.
• New York Sen. Hillary Clinton holds a commanding lead among Democrats, and the Republican race is wide-open in Michigan's newly prominent presidential primary, a new Detroit News/WXYZ-TV poll shows.
  The poll from Lansing's EPIC-MRA finds Clinton with a 19-point lead over the Democratic field. Among those saying they'll vote in the Republican primary, Michigan native Mitt Romney leads at 25 percent, followed by ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani at 23 percent. Former Tennessee senator and television star Fred Thompson, who will formally enter the GOP race next week, is at 16 percent, with Arizona Sen. John McCain, winner of Michigan's 2000 primary, at 15 percent.
• The poll, of 400 Democratic and 400 Republican primary voters, carries a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. On Thursday, the Legislature approved a joint Jan. 15 primary for the state, a measure Gov. Jennifer Granholm is expected to sign. That would put Michigan among the earliest-voting states in the nominating race, something Michigan politicians have sought for more than two decades.
  The new poll shows significant changes from EPIC-MRA's last survey earlier this month, especially among Republicans. That survey had Thompson in the lead and Romney in last place, at just 12 percent.

Click to read the rest of the article. There is also a graph that shows the Republicans and Democrats. Only the "big names" are on there. Still, Detroit News still refuses to put Mike Huckabee's name there. In mid-August 31% of the respondent respondents chose other/undecided. Now it is only 21%. How many of those that chose other said "other" because they support Mike Huckabee? Hopefully it is a majority of them.

Here is where there could be some good news for Mike.

• Clinton joins Edwards, Obama in vow to skip Mich. campaigning
• Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have pledged not to campaign in Michigan or Florida, two states that have bucked their party's nomination schedule.
  Their announcements, in statements released Saturday by their campaigns, left no major Democratic candidates campaigning for Michigan's Jan. 15 primary.

No Dum (I mean Dem) candidates to campaign in Michigan? Whatever should a Michigan Dem to do? They could either support a candidate who neglects them, or look into the Republicans, who will be campaigning in our state. Like I said in my post about Which Southerner Would Michiganders Like Better Mike Huckabee would be the best choice for these disenfranchised Michigan Dems.

• "This is another move to try to intimidate us, to try to get us to back down," said Debbie Dingell, one of the state's representatives on the Democratic National Committee and the wife of influential Rep. John Dingell. "The Democratic leadership of this state is united to challenge the system. We're prepared to take this to the floor of the convention in the fight to seat out delegates"

I thought she was against an early primary? I guess I misinterpreted.

• Granholm had written on Thursday to candidates in both parties, urging them to campaign in the state, and to decline to sign the pledge sought by the four early states. Referring to the economic trends that have battered Michigan, Granholm wrote, "I hope you will recognize that these issues facing the people of Michigan are far more important than the politics of the parties' respective nominating contests."

I hope it is true that she is showing bi-partisanship in this.

• ....Republican candidates have shown no reluctance to campaign in Michigan, and several GOP campaigns are expected to step up their activity in the state.
  Saul Anuzis, chairman of Michigan Republican Party, said the Democratic presidential candidates' decision is good for Republicans.
  "I am ecstatic if that's true," he said. "I am doing cartwheels. There is nothing more that Republicans could ask for in Michigan and nationally."
  Anuzis said he believes Republicans could exploit a decision by Democrats to bypass Michigan and Florida, two states that could play a vital role in the general election.
• Edwards supporters had opposed Michigan's move to a primary coordinated with Republicans. Edwards' union support would carry greater clout in the party caucuses Michigan Democrats had been scheduled to hold, because the lower turnout in caucuses would place greater emphasis on labor's organizing power. But Michigan labor leaders, including the United Auto Workers union, are believed to have backed the Jan. 15 primary.

Let's see how the union reacts to not having any of their precious Dums (Oops, I did it Again) campaigning in Michigan.

Read the full article here

Now for some good news about Mike Huckabee.

• Huckabee camp to expand, restructure
• Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee plans to increase the size of his staff and make “substantial changes” to the structure and organization of his presidential campaign, which is attempting to capitalize on his secondplace showing in the Iowa straw poll earlier this month.
  Huckabee told reporters on a conference call Friday that his small staff needs some help. “We’re just about to the point of having a mutiny on our hands,” he said.
• Now that fundraising is picking up, Huckabee said, he can afford to pay them.
• But that doesn’t mean he’s a free spender: “They have to be able to work for cheap.”
  Since the straw poll, Huckabee has been making the case that he is in the top tier of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.
  “We’re so far ahead of John McCain, I don’t know how people can possibly say we’re not one of the front-runners.”

Click to read the rest here

All in all, I hope they start doing something in Michigan. I truly believe he can make it here. I have told the campaign, numerous time that I am willing to help volunteer when he comes to the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference. I haven't really heard one way or the other. They do know how close I live to Mackinac Island. If they have someone else in mind, from the area, I hope they have that person contact me. Two heads are better than one.

I have to admit, part of this is my own ego. I don't want friends and acquantances to say, "I thought you were supporting Mike Huckabee and blogging for him? Why is the campaign treating you like a Romney supporter?" But of course, it is mostly about Mike Huckabee. I have a chance to mingle with Republicans on Mackinac Island, one week before the conference. I want them to hear about Mike Huckabee. I don't want to put my foot in my mouth about this.

God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!