The face of leadership

by: Eric B.

Fri Jul 18, 2008 at 18:02:55 PM EDT

This, in my opinion, is one of Jennifer Granholm's finest hours.  Above, she rides the bus to work.  We already know that she occasionally bikes to her office.  She's also explored the four-day workweek.

The easy road would have been to blame high gas prices on George Bush, and used it to partisan advantage this Election Year.  In fact, we've already had much of that, most of it focused on the will o' the wisp that is "Drill! ... Drill! ... DRILL!"  Instead, the governor is taking the honest approach, not in proposing policies meant to bring down the price of gasoline, but by suggesting to people, in a very direct, personal way, ways the impact of high gasoline prices can be alleviated.

I understand that since the governor started riding her bike to work that the racks at the Romney building have been filled to the gunwales.  This is awesome.  And, while I also very much like the idea of the four-day workweek (which, incidentally, mitigates the hit to tourism by making the investment in driving up North much better, since it'd be for a three-day weekend rather than a two-day one); I really like the picture of the governor riding the bus to work.

The bus gets a bad rap.  In a nation that prides itself onwealth enough to allow single drivers commuting to work over great distances, it's been relegated to the form of transportation for crazies, and drunks who've lost their license.  That is a crying shame.  I'm glad to see the governor help remove some of the stigma from riding the bus.

I am disappointed to see that not everyone is impressed with the governor's out-front leadership on this.  I am disappointed that the Livingston County Press & Argus' editorial board is clueless to the point of contemptability on this issue.  Short of breaking out the Ye Olde Edsel Ford Font of Endless Petroleum rumored to be stored in the front closet by the foyer, there's not Thing One the governor can do about the price of gasoline -- look around, folks, for this is you in a world of unrestrained markets.  It's sad that she's criticized for skipping the opportunity to make this a partisan issue and instead offer advice and encouragement to people.

Yes, I know the counterargument to this.  She isn't offering anyone anything that smart people didn't already know (hell, I've been doing all of this for three years).  The fact is that sometimes the simplest, most obvious option is the best thing to do; and in this case, she's done it as opposed to try to turn some kind of partisan advantage.  For that, praise from me.

Update! ... One suggestion here.  While the opportunity exists, why not take the next step and start developing a better rail system in this state?  Around metro Detroit, and a line from metro Detroit to Grand Rapids with stops in Lansing seems like a good starting point.  I know things are in development, but while we're at the start of permanently high-priced gasoline it's most appropriate to get hot now.