Gubernatorial Scuttlebutt: The Good, the Bad (but fashionable!) and the Torturers

by: LiberalLucy

Fri May 15, 2009 at 12:05:47 PM EDT

It may only be May of 2009, but in the wonderful world of politics, it's never too early to talk election scuttlebutt!

On the Dem side, Lt. Gov. John Cherry continues to pick up steam. He's just announced that 17 Democratic County and District Chairs have endorsed him. If that sounds impressive, add that to the 14 others that previously endorsed, bring it to a whopping 31. Our great state only has 83 counties and 15 congressional districts, so one can only guess where he'll be by July or August!

The rumored possible/maybe (can we get any more vague?) run of Macomb County Sherrif Mark Hackel appears to be over, quite possibly even before it got started. For this, we go to our trusty Senior Capitol Correspondent and Off the Record host, Tim Skubick -

Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel is making noises that running for governor maybe ain't such a hot idea after all. Apparently in addition to his law enforcement chores, he is also a math major and the numbers don't add up on the democratic ledger.

Sure he is from vote rich Macomb County and anybody running for governor would love to have that as a base, and sure he has great name ID and voters like him, but his chances of wrestling the nomination from Lt. Gov. John Cherry are slim and none.

While Hackel has spent the last six months thinking about running, the aforementioned Mr. Cherry has actually been running and rather successfully as he methodically puts his machine together.And then, my personal favorite continual comedic fodder, the ever bumbling and grandiose Republicans...

And then there's my favorite source of continual comedic fodder, the bumbling and arrogant Republican field. Remember, the very same party whose own people published a white paper saying they didn't even have a bat's chance in hell of winning...

Apparently Senator Tom George of Kalamazoo is running for the governor of...Monopoly. Seriously. Take a look at the man's website and logo. Unless he's related to the Milton Brothers, or there's a Park Place somewhere in the state that I missed, you have to admit how ridiculous his campaign logo is.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of high fashion and I think nothing makes a man look more dapper than a top hat and a coat with tails, but what exactly is George trying to convey with that message? I'm just a simple girl, but it kind of looks like he's hopped the B & O Railroad to representing the Country Club party. I imagine in tough economic times like these that's gonna go over real well with the voters...

And then there's Pete Hoekstra, who this week claimed "there's a wide-range of waterboarding" that were legal. Sounds like the man spent too much time at the Tulip Festival and it's all gone to his head...

And that folks, is your Michigan Republican Party, the very men (and few women) that bring you top hats and waterboarding. Can you imagine what their fundraisers look like??