Talking Michigan Politics

On this week's delayed version of the Talking Michigan Politics podcast, Press editors Jeff Cranson and Ed Golder discuss Thursday's sometimes raucous governor's debate; President George W. Bush's speech in Grand Rapids; and what we can learn from the perfect game that wasn't.

In a special brief edition of the Talking Michigan Politics podcast, Press editors Jeff Cranson and Ed Golder discuss President George W. Bush's speech to the Grand Rapids Economic Club Wednesday evening. The former president, relaxed and seemingly at peace, struck a very human, at times somewhat conciliatory tone as he discussed his most agonizing decisions in office.

On this week's Talking Michigan Politics Podcast, Matt McLogan -- GVSU vice president of university relations -- joins Press editors Jeff Cranson and Ed Golder to discuss:

1. Post-partisanship, a fading ideal. President Obama draws harsh criticism after a meeting with GOP senators Tuesday -- one of whom says the president used them as "props."

And a poll: "Anti-incumbent sentiment is as strong as it was in 1994, when the GOP swept the Democrats from power on Capitol Hill, but according to a new national poll, Americans may not be desperate for change in Congress.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday indicates that 47 percent of the public is more likely to vote for a challenger rather than an incumbent running for re-election at the federal, statewide, or local level, with 30 percent saying they are more likely to back the incumbent."

2. Governor's race The debate that wasn't. Speculation remains that U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra maintains a lead in the GOP primary but Attorney General Mike Cox and Ann Arbor venture capitalist Rick Snyder are gaining ground. Will any political leaders muster the courage to make changes?

3. Congressional races in West Michigan. The 2nd and 3rd districts feature large fields of candidates seeking the GOP nomination. In the 2nd district, which stretches from Allegan County north to Benzie, Field Reichardt, a self-proclaimed Gerald Ford-Bill Milliken Republican is banking on the conservatives fighting for the base and leaving him centrist Republican voters in the district.

The question: How many centrists live in the 2nd District, where the most populous county has voted reliably Republican since the beginning of time? In the Grand Rapids-based 3rd, five Republicans are battling for the nomination, and a debate Monday featured few fireworks.

4. People quitting Facebook. Are you next?

Conversation starters:

• Rand Paul makes it clear he is not named for Ayn Rand, though he's a great admirer.

• Ed on why Washington, D.C., is a recession-free zone. The USA Today article says that private paychecks have shrunk to their smallest share of personal income in the country's history. Public pay, meanwhile, is on the rise, dramatically so. The case for creeping socialism, or an effective stimulus?

• Jeff on a New Yorker column explaining how an election in Germany makes our markets roil, and how uncertainly among policy makers will make investors nauseous for many days to come...

• Matt on some Republicans pushing a Constitutional Convention in Michigan.

On this week's Talking Michigan Politics podcast, Grand Rapids Press editors Jeff Cranson and Ed Golder discuss:

1. What do Tuesday's results in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Arkansas mean? Is Obama's help a welcome thing for candidates? And will the Tea Party continue to be a factor?

2. Governor's race.

• How about a one-term pledge? Mike Bouchard has mentioned it; Joe Schwartz says it's a certainty, should he decide to run.

• Mike Cox's TV assault on Pete Hoekstra may be working. Hoekstra has taken the Americans for Tax Reform pledge, meaning he will "oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes."

• The end of this podcast includes audio from a separate podcast posted Wednesday that features an interview with Bouchard.

3. Consolidating governments. Is it time to merge some communities? The next installment of the Grand Rapids Press 10.0 series explores the question and how others have done it successfully.

Conversation starters:

• Ed: If Elena Kagan is confirmed for the Supreme Court, it will mark the first time in the country's history there will not be a Protestant on the high court. Six justices will be Catholic; three will be Jewish. Does it matter? This piece from Boston University Professor Steven Prothero argues that it does.

• Jeff on Meet The Facts -- how a couple college students took it on themselves to check the validity of statements made on Sunday Morning talk shows. On The Media reported on it last week.

On a special edition of the Talking Michigan Politics podcast, Press editors Jeff Cranson and Ed Golder talk with Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard about his gubernatorial candidacy. Among the questions and topics:

One term? New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is doing all the things he promised in an effort to close his state's $10 billion budget gap, which means his popularity is sagging. If Michigan's next governor does the things that need to be done, Bouchard has said it would be tough to be re-elected.

Polls: Bouchard continues to run fourth in the polls, despite some statewide name ID from previous elections. What's the strategy and when does he fully join the air wars ?

Tea Party: "We have far too much government," Bouchard says.

Anti-incumbent mood: Is his past legislative experience helpful politically or something to de-emphasize?

On this week's Talking Michigan Politics podcast, Grand Rapids Press editors Jeff Cranson and Ed Golder discuss:

1. Candidate filing day suggests there will be blood in the race for governor. Among the topics in the governor's race:

• Republican Attorney General Mike Cox's TV ads attacking U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra and the timing with Americans for Job Security ads, which also go after Hoekstra.

• And what of a supporter of GOP candidate Rick Snyder demanding that Cox remove his image from the ad?

• Hoekstra, and Democratic House Speaker Andy Dillon, come up as most winnable in surveys of Lansing insiders.

• Is Snyder's decision not to fill out any interest group's surveys an example of principle turning into strategy?

2. Other filings. Two important races for Congress in West Michigan with a broad field in both the Grand Rapids-based 3rd district, being vacated by Vern Ehlers and a similarly large field in Hoekstra's 2nd district, which stretches along Lake Michigan from Allegan County to Benzie County.

3. Teacher retirement bill. Is there any hope of a compromise that will move forward an early-out proposal for many of the state's secondary school teachers? Is the Senate plan best, as a Press editorial posits?

Conversation starters:

• Ed on the Catholic Church, in light of the Pope's most recent -- and finally, somewhat on-key -- statement about the sexual abuse crisis.

• Jeff on Grand Rapids' being touted as a success story in Fortune Magazine.

On this week's Talking Michigan Politics podcast, Grand Rapids Press editors Jeff Cranson and Ed Golder discuss:

1. Taxes. Voters said yes across West Michigan, with wide margins in the cities of Wyoming and Kentwood.

In Grand Rapids, a proposal to hike the income tax from 1.3 to 1.5 percent for residents was adopted narrowly. Our friend, Peter Bratt, crunched the numbers (PDF).

The question that keeps coming up is whether this signals that the anti-tax Tea Party is not as influential as believed or whether the movement is focused on nameless, faceless bureaucrats in D.C. and Lansing and is not a factor in voters' decisions on local issues.

2. Governor's race Republican candidate Peter Hoekstra continues to lead in polls, but was it a good move to seek the endorsement of Rick Santorum, a former Penn. U.S. Senator?

Santorum had other stops in Michigan, including an endorsement for 2nd Congressional candidate Jay Riemersma.

The social and fiscal conservative was ousted in the 2006 Democratic landslide by the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent U.S. senator since 1980. And will Attorney General Mike Cox, another GOP gubernatorial candidate, participate in a debate in Grand Rapids May 24?

And what comes of a decision not to demand disclosure for campaign ad spending from Secretary of State Terri Land, running mate of GOP candidate for governor Mike Bouchard?

3. Food for thought The Center for Michigan is taking on the big issues and their Citizens' Agenda and scorecard should provoke deep thought and discussion.

Conversation starter:

• Ernie Harwell, whose voice was what summer sounds like to generations of baseball fans from Michigan, died Tuesday at 92.

He was goodness and light and humbly understood his unique fortune in life to have mastered a profession that allowed him to give a magical gift to people of all ages -- he let us feel like kids again.

A Press editorial pays appropriate homage to the voice of the Detroit Tigers for more than 40 years. Jeff reads from a portion of his 1981 speech upon being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

On this week's Talking Michigan Politics podcast, Grand Rapids Press editors Jeff Cranson and Ed Golder talk about a new poll that shows U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra hanging on to a lead among Republicans running for governor; questions over whether voter unhappiness spells good news for Republicans in November; and concerns about legacy costs and how they shape voter views ahead of key tax votes Tuesday.

1. Governor's race. New poll shows Hoekstra still leading Republicans.

And Rasmussen reports that 41 percent of all voters prefer a Republican gubernatorial candidate, 36 percent favor a Democrat, 5 percent prefer some other party and 18 percent are undecided.

Hoekstra also picked up an endorsement from likely 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney Wednesday, a return of the favor since Hoekstra supported Romney in 2008.

Among Democrats, House Speaker Andy Dillon turned in 30,000 petitions Wednesday, assuring his spot on the ballot. Also, Lansing mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero called on House Speaker Andy Dillon to use the legislative appropriations process to prohibit Attorney General Mike Cox from spending state tax dollars on a frivolous lawsuit that aims to stop federal health insurance reforms.

2. The mood How will voters' unhappiness play in November in races across the board.

3. Pensions and tax requests. Should voters consider the city of Grand Rapids' pension costs in deciding on an income tax hike request Tuesday?

Meanwhile, the Legislature is moving on an early-out plan for teachers and, perhaps, other state workers. But charter school advocates are sounding the alarm that one version would require charters to participate in the MPSERS retirement plan.

Conversation starters:

• Ed on how Michigan's workplace smoking ban, which takes effect Saturday, affects Hookah bars.

• Jeff on the Grand Rapids Student Advancement Foundation's Mind Share event, which brings out the best in Grand Rapids school supporters, many of whom live outside the city.

In this week's Talking Michigan Politics podcast, press editors Jeff Cranson and Ed Golder talk about the race for governor and Michigan's lack of disclosure in campaign finance law; a poll that shows that most Tea Party faithful are doing fine financially; and the money in the Grand Rapids Congressional race:

1. Governor's race Attorney General and GOP candidate for governor Mike Cox charged a shadow group's radio ad attacking Cox's role in investigating an alleged party at the Manoogian Mansion was engineered by Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, his rival in the governor's race. "Wasn't us," say Snyder aides.

Meanwhile, Democratic gubernatorial candidates squared off in Detroit Sunday with House Speaker Andy Dillon, leader in the polls, looking to burnish his labor cred. What would Republicans have to do to blow the governor's race in 2010?

2. Who's in the Tea Party? A new poll yields detailed demographic findings on people attending Tea Party rallies. It is dominated by white, middle class males, the people who feel they have the most to lose, but there are other surprising findings.

Did the movement hit its zenith? Seemed to have died down here, but it has legs in several national races including the Tennessee and Florida Senate races.

3. Funds raised in 3rd Congressional race Reports came out Thursday, and while Steve Heacock leads Republicans in cash on hand, state Sen. Bill Hardiman, another Republican candidate, released an internal poll showing him with a broad lead early, based, most likely, on name recognition.

But state Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, is strong in cash on hand and in fundraising. Democrat Pat Miles Jr. has more than $100,000 in cash on hand and has a broad donor base.

What if the November general election for the Grand Rapids-based Congressional seat featured a race between two black men, Miles and Hardiman?

Also discussed: U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, a Battle Creek Democrat representing much of rural southern Michigan, has a healthy fund-raising lead, but faces a strong challenge in what promises to be a good year for the GOP in a district leaning their way.

Join Grand Rapids Press editors Jeff Cranson and Ed Golder for this week's Talking Michigan Politics. Topics include:

1. The race for governor Last week's poll (PDF), that found U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Holland, hanging on to a lead in the GOP primary. Is Hoekstra's solid support in Republican-rich West Michigan enough to propel him to victory in the primary?

Does the Manoogian mansion civil case and innuendo continue to dog Attorney General Mike Cox, another GOP candidate?

As Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard continues to lag in GOP polls, does he consider a run for Congress instead?

2. Congressional races. What's going on in the Grand Rapids-based 3rd district? Democrat Pat Miles issued a press release ahead of Thursday's campaign finance report filing deadline, saying he has raised $100,000. Republican candidate and state Rep. Justin Amash of Cascade Township talks to Grand Rapids-area business leaders at a breakfast event hosted by Amway President Doug DeVos.

And what of the Tea Party's role in Bart Stupak's decision not to seek re-election in the northern Michigan 1st District? Jeff said last week that if Stupak stayed in the race, he would win despite the Tea Party opposition.

After Stupak pulled out on Friday Jack Lessenberry posited: "I think that if he had run he would have won, easily. And he would have been helped by the fact that three bus loads of out-of-towners showed up to try to tell his neighbors to vote against him."

Will the entire country be watching Michigan's 1st District in November?

3. Taxes. Sunday, the Press launches the April installment of the Michigan 10.0 series, focusing on tax structure and the crisis looming even before being expedited by a world-wide economic collapse. One topic explored: a push by some to lift exemptions on income tax for pensions.

Conversation starters

• Ed on the Washington Post's Gene Weingarten's Pulitzer-winning exploration of arbitrary judicial and law enforcement reactions to prosecuting parents whose children died after being left in cars.

• Jeff on the citizenry's need to demand for disclosure of campaign contributions to secret, independent groups and real-time campaign finance disclosure.

The Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for corporate and union contributions also said those groups can be required to disclose who donated the money that paid for the ads.