Ann Taenes - Washington Post

Trump's RNC is reuniting the band: convicted criminals Paul Manafort and Steve Bannon (and maybe now-in-jail Peter Navarro) plus world-class whackos Steven Miller and Corey Lewandowski...under the "leadership" of daughter-in-law Lara Trump. It's looking like a rerun of 2020, but better organized but without Jared or Ivanka. Just this week, we're seeing

The screening for new Republican National Committee employees: do they agree that the 2020 election was stolen? 

Michigan’s Ronna “Don’t Call Me Romney” McDaniel’s NBC gig lasts half a Scaramucci after an on-air rebellion 

The Zillow listings for Trump properties will have to wait as the Sneaker-and-Bible Salesman gets a $300-million reprieve from a New York appeals court

Trump gets a tenuous windfall with Truth Social, but the company continues to lose money and could end up bankrupt (just like Trump casinos, Trump Airline, Trump Water, Trump University etc. etc.)

Trump gets to pray about his first criminal trial, now set to begin on April 15th (which likely means fewer rounds of golf).

Around Michigan:

Former Governor Granholm returns to the Mitten bearing gifts: $1.5-billion to restart the Palisades nuclear plant

Ottawa County may be Michigan’s most conservative politically, but its voters aren’t at all happy with the new ultra-right-wing mob running the county

Protecting healthcare, Social Security and Medicare are back as fundamental campaign issues

The most successful one-night fundraiser in political history gets launched with Biden's backup band: Bill Clinton and Barack Obama

Biden’s polling numbers are up in Michigan and nationally, and the campaign opens a 2nd office in Michigan. Meanwhile Trump’s Michigan remains in shambles.

We're joined this week by longtime Republican political consultant Stuart Stevens, now a senior adviser with the Lincoln Project.

Stevens has worked at the top level of more presidential and senatorial campaigns than just about anyone. His first presidential effort: the Bob Dole campaign in 1996. His book The Big Enchilada is a chronicle of George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign. 

He is also a prolific writer. It Was All A Lie: How The Republican Party Became Donald Trump is his eighth book; his ninth book, The Conspiracy to End America Five Ways came out last October. He has also written extensively for dramatic television series, starting with Northern Exposure and including I’ll Fly Away, K. Street, Commander in Chief and others.

===========================

This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA, 

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• On-Line and Automated Surveys

• Focus Group Research

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===========================

This week's politics begin with a check on Zillow listings...

The man who once claimed a net worth of more than 10-Billion dollars says he can’t come up with a measly half-billion to satisfy a New York court judgment. If he’s so rich, why can’t he simply mortgage one of his many many many amazing properties?

M.Wuerker - Politico

There are more signs of cracks in Trump’s support within the Republican Party as Trump is dissed by former Veep Mike Pence, Indiana Sen. Todd Young, and Nikki Haley donors

On the plus side for the former game-show host, it appears that the judge in his trial for stealing top-secret documents is totally in his hip pocket

Michigan Supreme Court Justice David Viviano says he won’t seek reelection, giving Democrats a chance to solidify their majority on the officially-but-not-really nonpartisan court

Electric-powered cars are taking center-stage in the Michigan presidential campaign

Two anniversaries highlight the week:

The 14th anniversary of the signing of Obamacare: state Democrats are turning up the heat in federal races, going after Republican candidates on healthcare

The 10th anniversary of the first same-sex wedding in Michigan

Also this week:

The UAW makes an endorsement in the Democratic primary race to succeed Dan Kildee

The Legislature ends Michigan’s ban on surrogacy contracts and, in the process, protects In-Vitro Fertilization.

Michigan Democrats are taking on the challenge of reconnecting with rural Michigan.

We talk with the authors of a provocative analysis of the partisan divide between rural and urban/suburban Michigan: “White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy”. Journalist Paul Waldman is a former columnist for The Washington Post, The Week, and TheAmerican Prospect. He is currently an MSNBC columnist, writes The Cross Section newsletter, and co-hosts the Boundary Issues podcast.

Tom Schaller is a professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. A former columnist for The Baltimore Sun, he has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author or co-author of four other books, including Common Enemies, The Stronghold, and Whistling Past Dixie.

===========================

This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA, 

a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

• Public Opinion Surveys

• Market Research Studies

• Live Telephone Surveys

• On-Line and Automated Surveys

• Focus Group Research

• Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns

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===========================

Just some of this week's political happenings -- 

The Trump-appointed prosecutor who questioned the President’s memory has his own memory losses when questioned by Congress

The President returns to Michigan in what will become a recurring political story for our state

Donald Trump weighs in on the Republican race for U.S. senate, endorsing a candidate who once called Trump’s political tactics “destructive”.

In a move that will bring joy to the hearts of the football and basketball coaches at Michigan and Michigan State: the NAACP is urging black student-athletes to avoid Florida due to DeSantis anti-DEI edicts

RFK Jr. proves his campaign is pretty much a joke as he floats the names of Aaron Rodgers and Jesse “The Body” Ventura as his running mate

Democrats in Lansing are taking another stab at passing meaningful financial disclosure laws. 

A group of state House Democrats are once again introducing comprehensive financial disclosure legislation,disclosures that go far beyond the minimalist requirements enacted last year in response to the 2022 ballot proposal enacted by voters. Leading the charge for putting teeth into the law is Representative Erin Byrnes (D-Dearborn), chair of the House Committee on Ethics and Oversight.

Rep. Byrnes is serving her first term representing the west end of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. She earned a bachelor’s from the University of Michigan and went on to graduate school in New York City, where she served as a middle school special education teacher and took classes in the evening. After returning home to be close to family and serve her community, Rep. Byrnes continued her work as an educator at the University of Michigan in 2011 and completed the Michigan Political Leadership Program at Michigan State University in 2015.

She’s served as a member of the Dearborn City Council since 2018 and most recently as council president pro tem.

Trump jumps onto the third rail of politics: Social Security/Medicare. Ouch!

            ===========================

This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA, 

a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

• Public Opinion Surveys

• Market Research Studies

• Live Telephone Surveys

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• Focus Group Research

• Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns

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===========================

The general election campaign for President is officially underway...

Scranton Joe delivers a take-no-prisoners State of the Union that leaves his supporters ecstatic and Republicans sputtering.

Spoiler alert: the 2024 Campaign theme is a sequel movie “This Country for Old Men”

Super Tuesday was a good day for former athletes who want to be Senators: one-time NFL star Colin Allred wins the Democratic nomination to run against Ted Cruz; in California, Michigan State University alum and All-Star baseball player Steve Garvey survives the jungle primary, setting him up to lose to Congressman Adam Schiff.

And it was a great day for Jason Palmer who, just like Mike Bloomberg in 2020, swept to victory in the American Samoa caucus.

The Supreme Court effectively decides the 14th amendment prohibiting insurrectionists from seeking federal office is just a suggestion.

More turmoil at Michigan State University: as a new president takes over in East Lansing, two trustees face the possibility of being fired and a third could be censured — the aftermath of the firing of football coach Mel Tucker.

Our guest this week is University of Michigan professor, former U.S. Attorney and MSNBC contributor Barbara McQuade discussing her new book which amplifies the alarm about the role of misinformation in the 2024 campaign as well as the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Trump ballot access case.

McQuade served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan from 2010 to 2017. As part of President Donald Trump's 2017 dismissal of U.S. attorneys, she stepped down in March 2017. She is a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School, the author of "Attack from Within" and a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.

Before joining the U.S. Attorney's office, McQuade practiced law at the firm of Butzel Long in Detroit and served as a law clerk for Hon. Bernard A. Friedman on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. McQuade started her career as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan from 1998 until becoming U.S. Attorney in that same district. She was also a professor of law at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law from 2003 to 2009.

McQuade was appointed by President Barack Obama and started her term as U.S. Attorney on January 4, 2010. Upon taking office in January 2010, During her tenure as U.S. Attorney, the office reached convictions in several high-profile cases, including the case of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on public corruption charges; the conviction and life sentence of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the would-be al-Qaeda shoe-bomber behind the 2009 Christmas Day bomb plot to destroy an airplane in flight from the Netherlands to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport; the conviction of former Michigan Supreme Court justice Diane Hathaway on bank fraud charges; and the convictions of former employees for stealing trade secrets from Detroit automakers.

In 2017, McQuade became a regular contributor to MSNBC, initially commenting primarily on purported scandals related to President Donald Trump, though the range of topics she analyzes has become broader over time. Since 2021, she also co-hosts the #SistersInLaw podcast with Jill Wine-Banks, Joyce Vance and Kimberly Atkins Stohr.

McQuade was born in Detroit. She received her undergraduate degree in 1987 from the University of Michigan and her J.D. in 1991 from the University of Michigan Law School.

Video: Highlights of President Biden's 2024 State of the Union address (via Politico)

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This week in politics starts, of course, with Michigan's Presidential Primary. The primary has Biden and Trump winning by a bunch — but both campaigns see warning signs for November. Also this week:

Sneaker salesman Trump graciously accepts victory by calling Gretchen Whitmer “a terrible governor who sold you out”, and UAW president Shawn Fein “atrocious"

A state court has, for now, put Kristina Karamo out to political pasture, but the fight for control of what’s left of the Michigan Republican Party goes on

Michigan born-and-bred Ronna Romney McDaniel admits the obvious: she’s officially another victim of Trump’s one-way loyalty

Former Michigan Congressman Mike Rogers is trying to rewrite his legislative history sponsoring legislative mirroring last week’s Alabama ruling that embryos are people

Joining the podcast is Lou Glazer, head of the economic think tank Michigan Future, a non-partisan, non-profit organization. Michigan Future’s mission is to be a source of new ideas on how Michigan can succeed as a world class community in a knowledge-driven economy. Its work is funded by Michigan foundations.

Glazer currently is heading efforts to implement a new agenda designed to raise household income for all. Prior to joining MFI, he served as Deputy Director of the Michigan Department of Commerce during the Blanchard Administration. He received Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Michigan.

===========================

This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA, 

a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

• Public Opinion Surveys

• Market Research Studies

• Live Telephone Surveys

• On-Line and Automated Surveys

• Focus Group Research

• Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns

• Political Campaigns & Consulting

• Ballot Proposals - Issue Advocacy Research

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===========================

Another remarkable week in national and state politics:

The Michigan presidential primary is Tuesday. Biden and Trump will win, but both can be wounded in the process.

Vice President Harris campaigned in west Michigan Thursday. Surrounded by Governor Whitmer, Senator Stabenow and Congresswoman Hillary Scholten – all women – the focus was on reproductive rights, an issue catapulted back to the debate by an insane court ruling in Alabama.

The Biden campaign goes into attack mode, focusing on the many bat-shit crazy things coming out of the mouths of Trump and his congressional stooges

The President has canceled another $1.2-billion in student loan debts

In Michigan, a major development in campaign finance reform which was spurred by onetime Republican strategist Bob Lebrant and my esteemed co-host.

The latest Michigan polling shows that the presidential and U.S. senate races are cliffhangers. We are joined by pollster Bernie Porn of EPIC-MRA to talk numbers.

Video: Vice President Harris and Governor Whitmer lead the Grand Rapids discussion on Reproductive Rights

===========================

This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA, 

a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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===========================

It’s been another remarkable week in national and state politics. Nationally, 

President Biden takes off the gloves - battering Donald Trump after Trump’s vow to abandon our NATO allies if they don’t pay protection.

The GOP’s governing body confirms it is part of the Trump family-run business, confirming his choice for a new Michigan GOP chair … but it’s not going to be a peaceful transition of power.

James Craig, once again considered a Republican frontrunner, gives up on his 2nd straight statewide campaign and says now he might run for Mayor of Detroit. 

A Republican state legislator loses his office and staff after promoting the racist “Great Replacement” theory.

Early voting starts Saturday for Michigan’s presidential primary … and 1.4-million voters have already requested absentee ballots. Will there be a large crossover vote? 

142 new state laws went into effect on Tuesday - their effective dates delayed by a constitutional loophole exploited by legislative Republicans to delay the inevitable.

And Mark, always the activist, has filed an ethics complaint against his home-county prosecutor for using government facilities as a campaign prop

While most of the media coverage … and our discussions … focus on federal and statewide races, many of the races with the most direct impact on families are local. One of the most important in this election cycle is the effort by Democrats in Macomb County to flip the prosecutor’s office. Incumbent Peter Lucido, a MAGA Republican, has been controversial for years with a career highlighted by multiple allegations of sexual harassment, including one complaint filed by a Lansing reporter while he was in the Legislature.

Joining the podcast this week is the career prosecutor who is running to remove Lucido: Christina Hines. Right out of law school she became an assistant prosecutor in Wayne County, followed by service as the Chief of the Appeals Division at the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office, and Chief of the Special Victims Unit Division. She was raised in Warren, is a graduate of Warren Woods Tower High School, and then the University of Michigan and Wayne State University law school where she now serves as an adjunct professor of law.

The problem with fixing the problem on the southwest border? Donald J. Trump. (The Lincoln Project)

===========================

This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA, 

a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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===========================

The debate over solar energy in Michigan may move to the ballot.

It’s been another remarkable week in national and state politics. Nationally: 

A three-judge DC court of appeals panel unanimously shoots down Donald Trump’s claim that a President has full immunity from crimes.

The Supreme Court signals that it will not allow states to take Trump’s name off the ballot.

Nikki Haley comes in a distant second in Nevada, losing by 30 points to “none of the above.”

The Republican caucuses in the House and Senate admit it: they are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Trump Organization.

Former Fox News troublemaker Tucker Carlson joins Vladimir Putin’s PR staff.

Meanwhile, the national economy keeps strengthening … but Joe Biden still doesn’t get credit from voters.

VIDEO: “Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends.” - President Biden

In Michigan:

The Wall Street Journal raises more than eyebrows with a story labeling Dearborn as “America’s Jihad Capital”.

It turns out Kristina Karamo isn’t the only Republican Party chair who’s been fired. Former Michigan GOP chair Ronna “Don’t Call Me Romney” McDaniel is on her way out as national GOP chair.

The Biden administration is in Michigan looking to make peace with angry Michigan Muslims and Palestinian-Americans.

A landmark court case in the Oxford High School murders comes just days before new Michigan gun safety laws go into effect.

And efforts are underway to undo one of the green energy laws that goes into effect next week. We're joined by Nick Dodge of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.

===========================

This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA, 

a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

• Public Opinion Surveys

• Market Research Studies

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• On-Line and Automated Surveys

• Focus Group Research

• Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns

• Political Campaigns & Consulting

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===========================

MAGA Republicans had no problem with White House visits during the Trump years by B-List singers Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Kanye West – but they are freaking out when confronted with the possible Biden endorsement by the most popular entertainer in the world. They are also going ballistic about the UAW’s Shawn Fain’s emphatic support of President Biden. As we record this podcast, Biden is a couple of miles from my Macomb County home visiting with some of the 1-million UAW workers and retirees … voters who could be the difference in swing states across the industrial midwest.

Also this week:

The latest campaign finance reports are in. How much do they signal about the elections? We’ll take a look at some of those reports.

The Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission has some new state House maps for southeast Michigan. Will the maps survive federal court scrutiny … and do they shift the balance of political power in our 50-50 state?

Secretary of State Benson has a $1-million political war chest - a signal for 2026?

Joe Biden continues to draw heat from Michigan Palestinians; meanwhile the only Palestinian-American in Congress, Rashida Tlaib raises $3.6 million in the last three months of 2023.

Republicans now say it might be okay to ignore the Supreme Court, using the same logic that was used by the southern states when they succeeded and launched the Civil War.

In Flint, there's a new contender for congress: the Mayor.

We are joined this week by the Democratic candidate in one of what will be one of the most hotly contested congressional races in the nation – former state Senator Curtis Hertel, who is running to succeed Elissa Slotkin in the House.

As Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Director of Legislative Affairs, Hertel led the state through passing bipartisan legislation that cut taxes for seniors and working families, expanded workers’ rights, and won additional new investments in advanced manufacturing that will bring good-paying jobs to Mid-Michigan and across the state. He was also instrumental in passing legislation that repealed the archaic 1931 law that banned abortion in Michigan, even in cases of rape and incest.

In the legislature, Hertel led the fight to preserve Michigan’s status as the world leader in auto manufacturing and bring thousands of next-generation electric vehicle jobs to Mid-Michigan by working with Democrats and Republicans to help pass the legislation that won GM’s $6.5 billion investment in the Delta and Orion Township battery cell and electric vehicle plants.

===========================

This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA, 

a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

• Public Opinion Surveys

• Market Research Studies

• Live Telephone Surveys

• On-Line and Automated Surveys

• Focus Group Research

• Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns

• Political Campaigns & Consulting

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===========================

You really need this for your mourning coffee!

Donald Trump appears to have done what Jeff predicted on this podcast months ago: locked up the nomination for his third attempt to win the national popular vote. But in the process, some new, large chinks in his Mar-A-Lago armor are showing up as some Haley supporters join the never-Trump movement. Trump has already started his annual “the election is stolen” mantra, apparently in anticipation of losing again.

Meanwhile, President Biden gets two big boosts to his reelection chances: First: the new numbers about the recession that never was. In fact, the U.S. economy is soaring. Economic growth in 2023 was bigger than in any year of the Trump presidency. Just as important politically: Biden gets a rousing endorsement from the United Auto Workers which could prove critical in Michigan, Wisconsin and maybe even Ohio.

We may have a border crisis, but Trump has ordered his supplicants in Congress to sink a bipartisan border bill – because he’s more interested in having a campaign issue than a solution.

In Michigan:

Governor Whitmer unveils her priorities for 2024 focused on the basics: economic growth, education and the cost of living.

Governor Whitmer is flanked by Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks and Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist as she delivers her State of the State Address.

The Republican National Committee has started to move into the internal chaos that is the state’s GOP.

The Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission is working furiously to meet a deadline that’s just days away for coming up with a new, constitutional map for Southeast Michigan legislative districts.

Our neighbors in Ohio have launched a war on transgender people, with that state’s Republican Legislature overriding Governor Dewine’s veto of an anti-LQBTQ+ bill.

We're joined by Detroit News politics editor Chad Livengood to talk about the politics of Whitmer’s State of the State speech and the prospects of getting her program through the Legislature. Chad was a political reporter in The News' Lansing Bureau from 2012 through 2016 before becoming a reporter and columnist at Crain's Detroit Business. He rejoined The News' politics team in May 2022.

===========================

This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA, 

a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

• Public Opinion Surveys

• Market Research Studies

• Live Telephone Surveys

• On-Line and Automated Surveys

• Focus Group Research

• Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns

• Political Campaigns & Consulting

• Ballot Proposals - Issue Advocacy Research

• Community - Media Relations

• Issue - Image Management

• Database Development & List Management

===========================

You really need this for your mourning coffee!