A Republic, If You Can Keep It

“Stupid on Stilts”. That’s how Republican Senator Thom Tillis characterized Donald Trump Jr.’s decision to let a Putin Pal pay for his Gatsby-style wedding reception … but it could serve as the theme for the entire Trump 2nd term. Even ultra-conservative billionaire and Trump acolyte Peter Thiel is conceding that Trump has surrounded himself with a band of incompetent suck-ups instead of “the best and the brightest.” How else can you describe a group that includes Pete Hegseth, Bobby Kennedy Jr., Doctor Oz, Jeanine Pirro, Kash Patel and billionaire buddies galore? It’s the Bad News Bears of government, and the voters have figured it out.

Still another example of blatant law-breaking by America’s only criminally convicted President: Donald Trump is recycling a 2024 campaign commercial, saturating football game telecasts and Saturday Night Live over the weekend. But this time it was paid for by taxpayers to the tune of more than two-million dollars … and adding even more to the cost every day. There’s irony in the fact that his promise in the ad to stop the Commies hit the airwaves while Trump was lavishing his praise on White House guest Xi Jinping, one of the world’s most powerful Communists.

Trump treats the Constitution and laws as suggestions. That especially applies to the concept of fair and free elections. The only fair and free election, in his mind, is an election won by Republicans. This week, Mark and Jeff analyze Trump’s multiple-front campaign to manipulate the mid-term election with the help of former Department of Justice voting rights expert, professor Sam Bagenstos. Sam and Mark are two of the state’s leading experts on election law. Full disclosure, I’m not an attorney, though in the Trump administration, I am eminently qualified to be attorney general, head the FBI, or sit on the Supreme Court.

There are a dozen or more Democrats angling to be the 2028 presidential nominee. The most prominent “I ain’t running” candidate is Gretchen Whitmer – which may be why she was picked as keynote speaker for the annual Human Rights Campaign’s annual fundraiser. She used that speech to torch Republicans who are building their campaigns around attacks on transgender girls and women.

Polling trends show Jocelyn Benson widening her lead in the race for governor, and her vote share is hovering right at – or slightly above – 50 percent, which is the magic number. Her campaign continues to focus on the cost of living … and how John James has been an enthusiastic participant in Trump’s economic disaster.   In the race for the U.S. Senate, Democrats are blasting Mike Rogers for a healthcare proposal which they say would actually raise costs for many families, while Republican apologist Nolan Finley at the Detroit News says Abdul El-Sayed isn’t really a doctor because he chose to be a public health executive and advocate instead of getting licensed to treat patients. It’s a sign of the GOP’s desperation in the high-profile race. The polling trends and averages also show DOCTOR Abdul El Sayed maintaining a steady, consistent lead among all registered voters, but one smack-ass at the margin of error line. But when drilled down to those likely to vote this year, or who are highly enthusiastic about voting, Abdul’s lead approaches double digits.

Somehow basketball star Caitlin Clark became a part of Republican attempts to discredit one-time Trump prosecutor Jack Smith. Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt, in an effort to prove a conspiracy between Smith and Atlanta prosecutor Fani Willis, managed to confuse the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks with the University of Iowa’s Hawkeyes … the lowlight of a Senate hearing at which Schmitt made the Judiciary Committee’s Republicans look like buffoons (even without the input of Tommy Tuberville who isn’t a member of the committee!) The race for dumbest senator has taken a surprise turn late in the game. For his part, Jack Smith was calm, collected, and confident as he quietly asserted his absolute belief that Donald Trump was a criminal.

In Michigan down-ballot races, Garlin Gilchrist and Eli Savit enjoy funding and political climate advantages over their GOP opponents. While the House and Senate Dems in Lansing are also encountering the same cash and climate advantages. GOP Speaker, and world-class reprobate, Matt Hall might well be having to move his office across the hallway from the ornate Speaker’s chambers. Savit’s opponent in the race for AG, Doug Lloyd, is also facing a new revelation from a Metro Times review of court records, charging documents, police reports, and other case files. The Metro Times found several instances during his tenure as Eaton County prosecutor in which cases involving sexual assault, child exploitation, and domestic violence ended with reduced charges, probation instead of jail, or no prosecution at all.

Lest we forget:

Tired of winning yet?

And Democrats got still more good news this week. Donald Trump has announced that he’s going on the campaign trail to add his luster to a bunch of GOP candidates who privately wish he would instead play more golf.

Our expert witness this week is University of Michigan law professor Sam Bagenstos. Sam is a long-time civil rights lawyer, who began his career in the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division in 1994. His work has focused particularly on voting rights, disability rights, and workers’ rights. With the midterm elections just weeks away, Sam is part of a team of lawyers working to ensure that November’s vote is both fair and free. It’s the kind of work that keeps a republic running.

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“Degenerates and Losers” – That’s Trump’s description of MS NOW after the network reported the administration is considering adding Trump’s name to Ford’s Theatre, the theatre where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

The latest overnight online rant comes hours after a federal court overturned Trump’s ban on MS NOW, CNN and Politico from the White House … along with the release of polling showing Trump’s approval rating has dropped to less than one-third of Americans, with only 27 percent backing him on economic policy.

After months of supporting Trump’s disastrous war against Iran and the resulting inflation, both John James and Mike Rogers have pirouetted 180 degrees in calling for an immediate end to the Iran War. For James, that means abandoning his record of multiple votes against congressional War Powers resolutions which would have reigned in Trump and Pentagon Pete Hegseth.

Republicans are increasingly breaking away from Trump because of his failures in Iran, the economy … and his blatant corruption. At least two Republicans in the Senate are joining Democrats in calling for an investigation into Donald Trump Junior’s Russian-funded wedding reception.

Kamala Harris’s re-entry onto the public stage began in Detroit this week with an open appeal to black voters to support Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed has made mending relations with black and Jewish voters a priority as voting begins across Michigan.

The corruption trial of former state House Speaker Lee Chatfield has been delayed … with Attorney General Nessel saying he’ll probably go to trial until after she leaves office. The implication is that the election of Republican Doug Lloyd as Attorney General could be his get-out-of-jail-free card. But Lloyd has his own problems with the Detroit Free Press revealing he sent an investigator for his office about 230 miles to Charlevoix to investigate possible fraud by a contractor he hired to build him an Up North retirement home.

Republicans’ top campaign issue took a big hit this week in a report from the non-partisan Peterson Institute for International Economics.

That think tank found that the United States took a big step toward greater state ownership or control of the economy—a form of socialism—in 2025. This change is occurring under unified Republican domination of the US government, not under a Democratic administration and certainly not due to the political influence of Democratic Socialists, who currently occupy only a tiny handful of seats in Congress.

Joining the podcast is Miles Coleman, editor of the highly regarded Sabato Crystal Ball politics newsletter. That report’s latest: moving multiple races in favor of Democrats. It’s no longer just battleground states – Democrats are looking at flipping U.S. Senate seats in a half dozen states including Alaska, Iowa, Ohio, Texas, North Carolina, Kansas and Idaho. In Michigan polling is trending towards a Blue Tsunami. Jocelyn Benson’s numbers have moved into landslide range in her campaign against John James, and Abdul El-Sayed’s narrow-but-consistent leads in the polls are growing beyond margin-of-error range.

The battle for control of the U.S. Senate gets a new complication with reports of massive corruption on the part of Maine’s always concerned senior Senator Susan Collins. The only saving grace for Collins: Trump squashed an FBI investigation into what appears to be a multi-year pay-to-play bribery scheme. Of course, in Donald Trump’s mind official bribery is simply one of the perks of public office.

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The battlelines are drawn in Michigan and across the nation over the tandem futures of data centers and artificial intelligence. Unlike the decades-long warnings over climate change threatening the future of the planet, the lighting speed of A-I development has catapulted the tech issue to the top tier of political issues.

It seems like ancient history, but in reality it’s only been a week since Donald Trump demanded fealty from the MAGA masses at his self-praising two-day “Trump is a Loser” rally in Dallas.

A coalition of prominent Jewish political leaders is forming behind the candidacy of Abdul El-Sayed for the Senate. The biggest names on the list include the scion of the Levin political dynasty, former Congressman Sandy Levin, and former U.S. Senator Al Franken.

Mike Rogers dodged the first scheduled U.S. Senate debate, leaving Dr. El-Sayed facing off against an empty lectern … and responding to a grilling from a TV journalist, Fox-Detroit reporter Roop Raj, accused by Rogers of being a Democratic sympathizer.

A new study shows widespread confidence in our elections among Michigan voters. Three-quarters of those polled say they are certain the November election will be fair, secure and accurate. Other findings in the poll:

The bottom line in the fall campaign is the cost of living, and that’s getting even worse for Republicans. The average price of gas in Michigan has soared to $4.75/gallon with many areas seeing $5/gallon gas. That’s an increase of $1.56 from a year ago. Diesel fuel – which impacts the shipping of just about everything – is a staggering $6.32/gallon. That works out to around $1/mile to fuel a typical freight-hauling tractor trailer. A typical big rig holds 300 gallons – meaning up to $1,900 for a fill-up.

U.S. consumers have collectively spent about $107 billion more on gasoline and diesel during the Iran conflict and disruptions from the Russia-Ukraine conflict than they would have had there been no war, according to estimates by the Climate Solutions Lab at Brown University. That averages to more than $500 million a day since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.

Donald Trump’s in a fiscal funk after the Fed raises interest rates. He’s threatening to cut off trade with the world if the Fed doesn’t reverse itself, even after declaring economic war on our neighbors in Canada. He’s also fuming over a court decision preventing his stooges on the Kennedy Center Board from adding his name to the building. In his latest tantrum he’s threatening to tear down the building if he can’t put his name on the monument to John Kennedy, with a news photographer catching Trump reviewing a plan to demolish the DC landmark.

The forever war in Iran, record deficits, inflation going up, a trade war with Canada, record-smashing corruption, a pre-occupation with building monuments to Donald Trump: the GOP message – it’s all Joe Biden’s fault, at least, in the eyes of J.D. Vance. That seems to be the definition of political desperation.

And in the firehose of corruption flowing out of DC, we don’t even have time to talk about Putin’s buddy paying for Don Junior’s wedding, Dad turning DC’s public golf courses into country clubs, the entire family cashing out their crypto company after making billions at the expense of the MAGA flock, the continued Epstein files coverup, the Attorney General crossing the line into outright political campaigning, Bobby Kennedy Junior’s pledge to champion the cause of anti-vaxxers, the House Speaker Mike Johnson shutting down the do-nothing House to avoid a Pete Hegseth impeachment vote, the hundreds of millions to train pilots to fly Trump’s so-called free Qatar airplane, the continuing expensive saga of the Reflecting Pool or the White House power struggle between Melania and Natalie.

Since convening in January 2025, the 119th Congress has passed 108 major laws — and only 36 this year. Up to this point on the calendar, no Congress has passed fewer laws in modern American political history — except for the last Congress, which was also led by Johnson>

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For the first time in our nearly six years and 295 episodes we’re on the road, delighted to be in Grand Haven with good people of Progressive Lakeshore, a nonpartisan, women-led initiative working to connect, inform & grow the progressive community.

Absentee ballots go into the mail in just 16 days … unless Trump’s hand-picked Supreme Court majority decides to ignore the U.S. Constitution AGAIN! Trump has filed still another appeal with the Court demanding that the Post Office decides who gets their votes counted.

We’re also getting ready for this week’s Trumpapalooze in Dallas, a two-day tribute to America’s first and only criminal convict President. If he can stay awake, Trump will speak both nights of the gathering to an audience of people who 1) had nothing better to do, and 2) were willing to pay a minimum of $25,000 for the privilege of being in the presence of the nation’s chief executive/poopie pants napper.

One of the few Michigan Republicans on hand will be Senate candidate Mike Rogers who will no doubt use his podium time to lob anti-Muslim insults at Abdul El Sayed. Michigan Democrats will take the opportunity to reinforce the link between Rogers and a President who currently has a 30 percent approval rating in the state … with a whopping 67% saying in the EPIC-MRA Poll that Trump sucks.

Also on the speakers list: 10th district congressional candidate Michael Bouchard Jr.

A new study finds that Michigan households are paying an average of $5,600, more than anywhere in the nation, since new tariffs began to take effect in January 2025. During that period, importers of goods bound for Michigan paid an estimated $23 billion in tariffs, the third largest of any state – behind only California and Texas. The analysis by the conservative National Taxpayers Union Foundation found that the state’s auto industry is particularly vulnerable to the tariffs because of its reliance on imported steel, aluminum and parts subject to tariffs. About $10 billion of Michigan’s tariff cost was on cars and trucks, and another $5 billion in tariffs was on auto parts, the report said.

Top of mind for everyone: retail prices. We paid $4+/gallon on the way over to Grand Haven. The price of diesel fuel – which impacts the price of anything that has to be delivered – is averaging $5.75/gallon, an all-time record high. Airline tickets are up 20% from a year ago, hotels up around 10%. Even a Whopper is a whopping $6.19 at your local Burger King…but at least the lettuce won’t give us projectile diarrhea.

Trump’s wars continue unabated with no signs of peace with either Iran or Canada. Meanwhile, Trump’s ace team of real estate salesmen (Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff) spent some time in Moscow getting their marching orders from Putin. Meanwhile, Marco Rubio, believed to be the alleged Secretary of State, has been seen about as often in Washington as Mitch McConnell or Melania.

The share of Americans who associate themselves with the Democratic Party has grown significantly over the past year, according to data from Gallup. The shift, which signals the party’s largest advantage since 2008, is the latest sign of backlash against Republicans and the president ahead of the midterm elections. The latest data shows Democrats with a 10-percentage-point advantage over Republicans when voters are asked which party they identify with and when independent voters are asked which party they lean toward. 

We’re still 2-plus weeks from the start of voting. All the signs point to the Blue Wave we’ve been predicting for nearly two years but, as we learned over the weekend in Ann Arbor, it ain’t over until it’s over … and even then it may not be over. Donald Trump is capable of seeing a losing score when the election is over, and then come up with a political Hail Mary. Mark is one of the legal team working to anticipate and head off a Trumpian coup and provides some insight into the preparations.

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Yes, the Donald Trump one-dollar coin is now in circulation. It’s just a matter of time until the faux gold coin is available in a special gold case exclusively on the website More Trump Crap for Sale Dot Com.

The fall campaign is underway in Michigan, with ballots going in the mail beginning in just 3 weeks … unless the Supreme Court backs Donald Trump’s clearly unconstitutional plan to have the Post Office decide who votes. Both Abdul El Sayed and Jocelyn Benson have small leads according to the latest polling from EPIC-MRA and MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research.

The poll by our longtime podcast supporter Bernie Porn shows both Benson and El-Sayed with four-point leads … at the edge of the poll’s margin of error. Fully two-thirds of voters surveyed give Donald Trump a negative job approval rating, with 63% saying the economy has gotten worse under Trump. MSU’s polling shows Benson with a 9-point lead, and El-Sayed leading by 5.

Those numbers come even before the impact of Trump’s temper-tantrum tariffs on Canadian goods kick in, and Canada is united politically behind Prime Minister Mark Carney’s hardball response to a President he calls a bully. 

The EPIC-MRA poll also shows overwhelming opposition in Michigan to data centers.

State Democrats formalized their statewide ticket over the weekend in a convention where the name Donald Trump dominated … and not in a good way. One major concern voiced by Democrats: Trump’s ongoing campaign to create chaos over the voting process. Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, who is running to be Michigan’s chief elections officer as Secretary of State, made it clear that Michigan will be ready for whatever Trump throws at us.

One of the potential voter suppression tactics on the list of potential Trump illegal abuses: sending the military the polls on election day in violation of federal law to intimidate voters or seize ballots. Senator Elissa Slotkin says the Army Chief of Staff has assured her in writing that it won’t happen.

Mike Rogers may have added to his woes by backing the Trump war on Canada. In an interview on Fox News, he tap danced around the issue … claiming Trump’s economic battle with our neighbors is actually good for the state, something denied by Democrats and the leaders of the auto industry.

John James says he’ll eliminate the state’s flat-rate income tax in phases. There would be two major  impacts: gutting every state agency including road and bridge maintenance, State Police, education, prisons and public health… and giving a huge tax cut to Betsy DeVos and the state’s other wealthiest people. 

Republicans will hold a Trump Tribute convention in Dallas this week, with most elected Republicans skipping the event. The highlights: speeches by Trump and J.D. Vance … both speeches being delivered at the same time as week one NFL games.

In news of the Trump property management agenda: an announcement that work will begin in two weeks on the Arc D’Trump, still another monument to the real Trump Derangement Syndrome. 

A victory for Michigan voters, an unsuccessful petition drive to require every Michigan voter to re-register and prove their citizenship – was back in court. Mark represented opponents of that ballot proposal and once again and won! He fills us in on the details.

Another election related case went into court this week over the issue of fusion voting. Jeff is the lead plaintiff in the case, Mark is his attorney which means our listeners get the full inside story.

Joining the podcast this week is political strategist and consultant Mike Madrid. Mike is known for his expertise in Latino voting trends. He co-founded the Lincoln Project and has worked with both Republican and Democratic candidates, while also serving as a lecturer at various universities and authoring the book “The Latino Century: How America’s Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy.” He is the host of the weekly podcast “MikeDrop”.

Next Monday marks the 144th annual observance of Labor Day. Labor Day began in the late 19th century as a response to the harsh working conditions faced by American laborers. The first unofficial Labor Day celebration took place on September 5, 1882, in New York City, organized by the Central Labor Union. This event featured a parade where thousands of workers marched to advocate for better working conditions and fair wages.

Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894, recognizing the contributions of workers to the nation’s strength and prosperity. It’s being celebrated in Detroit with a the traditional parade which begins at 9 a.m. and the final day of the Detroit Jazz Festival in Hart Plaza.

Some news about the podcast. We’ll be recording our first-ever podcast with an audience next week. Jeff and I will bring the podcast to the Lakeshore Progressives in Grand Haven on Tuesday,. If you would like to be a part of the audience, send us an email and we’ll get you the details. Our email: [email protected]. 

Perhaps the most iconic of all of Detroit’s Labor Day events was 66 years ago, when then-Senator John Kennedy spoke to a massive crowd in Cadillac Square, immortalized by iconic photos by legendary Detroit Free Press photographer Tony Spina. Link to the text of JFK’s speech.

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Jeff takes a week off and just like that, Trump starts another war! This time with him smack-ass in the middle of it. Jeff and his bride were in Canada’s Maritimes and was attacked with Canadian kindness, poutine, real beef and not diseased Argentinian horse meat, the best lobsters and oysters in the hemisphere, and the inability of artisans and merchants to ship their goods to their traditional U.S. partners – or even for me to ship purchases home, due to the economically illiterate tariffs and self-destructive imbecilic trade war with our closest cousins. Back here in the U.S.A.: Trump’s war could really cost him, eh? Senate and gubernatorial races in Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine and Ohio are already being impacted by the economic turmoil spinning off Trump’s latest stupidity. Too bad for John James and Mike Rogers,

Porky POTUS spent much of the week focused on his issue Number One: naming things after him, including:

But Michigan Republicans aren’t joining the Trump Name Game. At their weekend state nominating convention, none of their candidates for state office mentioned Trump even once. Their focus was putting lipstick on the pig that is the GOP record on the economy. I wish them all smashing luck as they contort themselves into cartoonish pretzels in their futile efforts to avoid being fatally tethered to Donald Trump’s venereal disease-level job approval.

State Democrats are sharpening their verbal axes as we approach the traditional Labor Day launch of the campaign. The Canada Trade War drew immediate fire from Lt. Governor nominee Winnie Brinks, and 10th district congressional candidate Christina Hines.

Senator Elissa Slotkin, in a speech to UAW leadership, said a longer term threat posed by the Trade War is Canada’s growing partnership with China on sales of EV’s … and Trump then allowing those cars across the Gordie Howe Bridge. Abdul El-Sayed is highlighting the obvious challenge facing Mike Rogers in the Senate campaign: does he risk angering Donald Trump breaking with him on issues beginning with the Trump-created Iran war, and the emerging hot-button issue of Data Centers.

But the possibly most ominous development of the week came from the very Trumpy Supreme Court, which has started to open the door to a federal takeover of elections. Without ruling on the merits of Trump’s Post Office deciding who gets to vote, Chief Justice John Roberts gave Trump permission to begin implementing his executive order.

It was all part of a bizarre week that can probably be summed up in two words: Lake America, Trump’s latest Sharpie-labeled change to world maps.

And we have more developments on state ballot proposals for November – both of those stories directly involving Mark. He has been on a winning streak in his election-related battles, and provides an update: what’s in, what’s out.

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Another bad week for the 80-year-old President as he gets roasted by Jon Ossoff with a riff that mentioned Natalie and infuriated Trump, setting off a social media frenzy with a​ttacks on the Georgia senator along with CNN and the reporter who asked Trump about the mention of his consta​​nt companion.

Trump’s priority issue this week seems to be as construction boss for the White House. He’s ordered his Justice Department to appeal a halt to further construction of his gold-encrusted ballroom; gave the press a guided tour of his granite helicopter pad construction project; used the tour to promote campaign contributor Scotts Turf Builder; attacked still another female reporter for asking him a question; and saw more of his endorsed candidates lose in their primaries.

The Democratic Party’s statewide ticket is now complete, with Jocelyn Benson choosing state Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks as her running mate. It’s the first-ever two-woman top-of-the-ticket in Michigan history … running against an all-male Republican ticket.

John James choice of state House Oversight Committee chair Jay DeBoyer is drawing heat over his refusal to investigate alleged widespread sexual abuse of children at Interlochen. DeBoyer says it’s a criminal matter and he criticizes Attorney General Nessel for not launching an investigation, overlooking the fact that Nessel has told local law enforcement the resources of her department are available to assist them in any way useful.

Our friend Mark the Lawyer had two big wins this week. One could change the outcome of a city election, the other protects voter rights.

We know now that there will be two proposals on the November ballot. Proposal one is the constitutionally required vote on whether to rewrite Michigan’s constitution which we discussed last week. Proposal 2 would, if enacted, put tight limits on corporate campaign contributions from state utilities and companies doing $250,000 or more in contracts with the state.

The Democratic National Committee has made it official: Michigan will be in the first band of presidential primary elections, fifth on the list of primaries and the first large battleground state in the mix.

The parade of wannabe presidents has already begun with a high visibility visit from Gavin Newsom, and the announcement that

Joining the podcast this week is perhaps the best political analyst in the state: Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. She’s in her 5th term representing portions of southeast Michigan. She is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Natural Resources Committee, where she leads on critical issues including affordable and accessible health care, clean energy and water, domestic manufacturing and supply chain resilience, and protecting our wildlife and natural resources.

Debbie Dingell is part of one of the most remarkable stories of a family’s public service in U.S. history. There has been a Dingell in the U.S. House of Representatives for 94 years: John Dingell Senior was first elected in the 1932 Roosevelt landslide and served for 22 years. His son John Jr. is a legend, serving a record 60 years. Upon his retirement in 2015 he was succeeded by his wife Debbie. A hallmark of their service has been a proposal for a national health insurance system, first introduced by John Sr. in 1933 and re-introduced since at every Congress by the father and then the son.

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On our political radar this week…

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The Republican general election strategy has been launched. It’s a 3-legged stool of misdirection:

Trump gave Democrats another campaign talking point this week with a bonkers Executive Order urging fewer vaccinations for children, something that doctors are vehemently saying will cause the preventable deaths of children. Trump’s basis for the E.O? Some people have been saying things! By “some people”, he mostly means Bobby Kennedy Jr. and the anti-vax conspiracy cabal.

State Democrats have kicked off their counter-campaign, focusing on the actual state of the economy, healthcare, abortion rights and Trump’s unprecedented corruption. They’ve labeled their the gubernatorial portion of their campaign “The John James: Out for Himself” tour.

The last few days have shown that every vote, does in fact, matter. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed’s margin over Haley Stevens was 0.95 percent. In Wisconsin, DSA gubernatorial candidate Francesca Wong lost to David Crowley by 0.5 percent, just 3,706 votes. And in Indiana, a recount this last week in a hotly contested Republican state Senate primary was decided by 3 votes.

John James has announced he will work to protect Michigan from the half-dozen or so transgender girls participating in high school sports. According to the Michigan High School Athletic Association, every year one or two transgender girls apply for a waiver to join a team. According to the MHSAA, nearly 300-thousand Michigan boys and girls are on their school teams this year. No word yet on what James has planned for the other 299-thousand.

In Michigan, we’ll be voting on whether to rewrite the state’s constitution through a constitutional convention.That’s because the current constitution, adopted 62 years ago, requires a vote on a having a Con-Con every 16 years. We’ve voted on the question 3 times over the years, and each time it was defeated overwhelmingly. A new Con-Con would, without doubt, be batshit crazy. Leaders all across the political spectrum have lined up urging a ‘no’ vote.

Joining the conversation: two leaders in the “Vote No” campaign. Mark Fisk is a partner at Byrum-Fisk Advocacy Communications; John Sellek is CEO of Harbor Strategic Communications.

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On our political radar this week…

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In multiple battles on election day, some candidates won despite being heavily outspent. The list includes

The general election is 89 days away…with early voting beginning in just over a month. The war of words is well underway with Republicans already branding all Democrats as communists, socialists and/or wussie Woke anti-police bed-wetting pro-criminal vegans.

Donald Trump took a break from his never-ending golf vacation to launch a couple more grifts – selling insider information through his Truth Social scam, bamboozling two gullible U.S. Senators into voting to confirm his personal criminal defense attorney as Attorney General, reinforcing his one-of-a-kind immunity from paying all the taxes he owes, and issuing still another “two days” prediction for his endless Iran War.

Meanwhile, the Trump government continues its manifestly incompetent management of the federal government. The explosive diarrhea is becoming a national epidemic as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. proves once again he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing, even as Trump’s apologists in the Senate try to shift blame for the last pandemic onto Dr. Anthony Fauci.

One of his onetime favorite former Fox News shouters may get the boot. Jeanine Pirro had to admit in court that Trump screwed up when he gave a no-bid contract to his pool guy for the Reflecting Pool restoration – it wasn’t vandals, it was shoddy work. The master builder is also starting over again on the White House helicopter pad after suddenly discovering that the White House lawn isn’t flat. And he’s unveiled the new gold-leaf encrusted statues at the Lincoln Memorial which just adds to the misery of the diarrhea epidemic. 

The most entertaining race of this cycle was the Republican primary in the 8th congressional district. Donald Trump endorsed Amir Hassan, which prompted Thomas Smith to withdraw from the race…but still won overwhelmingly. 

We start with the U.S. Senate race. It was much closer than most of the polls predicted. (A tip of the hat, by the way, to EPIC-MRA which correctly showed a very tight contest.) The big question: can Democrats unite, and then attract a majority of independents, to beat an admittedly tough opponent in Mike Rogers?

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On our political radar this week…

We’re in the final days of a primary campaign that’s being watched by the nation: will the Democratic Socialist wing of the Democratic Party upset the centrist leadership?

Donald Trump’s approval rating is now officially in the deep freeze: 32-percent approval in the latest Quinnipiac poll. So Trump and his allies are rolling out more distractions: 

Democrats are openly celebrating Trump’s Michigan campaign appearance. It gave them still another opportunity to focus on Trump’s core failures. Party chair Curtis Hertel led the party’s “Welcome to Michigan, Donald” news conference  In the background, Democrats are assuming that Trump will use all of the federal government to interfere with a fair-and-open election in November.

In Lansing, legislative Democrats have reintroduced the 9 bills that passed both chambers 18 months ago … then were effectively stalled by House Speaker MAGA Matt Hall. t’s strictly a messaging exercise. Chances for enactment of those bills a second time: zero. 

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