| From Talking Points Memo: I’m going to take a localized view, a Midland, Michigan view. I’m seeing everyday people questioning the lurch to the right by the Republican party. Governor Rick Snyder, not perfect, still too conservative for me, is looking better and better these days. His brand of Republicanism is much more attractive than straight Tea Party. He keeps talking about how to improve Detroit. He’s opposing crony capitalism in the form of promoting a new bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor. And as you reported, he refused to sign the most recent voter restriction law. (Michigan already had mandatory ID at the polls.) I’m seeing a split in the Republican party, between the scorched-earth types and the more constructive ones. At least in Michigan, the constructive ones seem to be gaining momentum.
For the love of all things decent, please take a second and at least open the link and read the entire thing. The above paragraph is worth reading from Michigan perspective, but let's not think anyone's trying to poach traffic from Talking Points Memo. It's been a fairly consistent theme the last two years that benevolent overlord Rick Michigan is as extreme as the rest of the Republican Party, and I really just don't think it's been warranted. I think he's made some terrible, horrible calls, like signing that legislation last year that barred local governments from extending same sex benefits (from a global, economic competitive basis, which is what seems to speak to this guy, it was a pure loser; not to mention just an act of sacrificing your humanity to appease religious lunatics). The emergency manager law was also crafted with the subtle care of a howitzer barrage, inflicted on the electorate rather than written with legitimate concerns in mind (I also think it was turned into a partisan issue rather than being one naturally). But, he's also done the stuff written above, and a few other things like supported a consumer-driven health care exchange. I also really like the things he had to say about connecting diet and health, although his DHS administrator promptly undermined it but ruthlessly, needlessly cutting people off federal food stamp aid at no savings to the state. |
