Michigan Politics
Granholm, DeVos: Just Shadow Boxing Now
By George Weeks

BEULAH – At this early stage of what could be a 2006 election match up, Governor Jennifer Granholm and wealthy Republican businessman Dick DeVos are doing little more than shadow boxing.

"I'm totally not focused on Dick DeVos," Granholm said in an interview after a speech here Thursday at the Cherry Hut, where she proclaimed, "Our enemy is our global competition," and lamented Michigan jobs lost to outsourcing.

I asked Granholm about DeVos and outsourcing because hours after the ex-president of Amway and its parent Alticor announced June 2 his intention to run, Democratic State Chairman Mark Brewer declared him "wrong on outsourcing to China," and asserted, "he supports free trade which has devastated the Michigan economy, costing us hundreds of thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs."

In my interview before his announcement at the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting on Mackinac Island, DeVos, president of a private investment company he founded in 1989, did not go beyond saying "things are not going as they should in Michigan" under Granholm, and he can provide "the entrepreneurial spirit that the state needs."

Well after Brewer's attack, DeVos declined comment. He then had consultant John Truscott, press secretary for ex-Gov. John Engler, assert he would not respond every time Brewer "does Graholm's bidding." He said DeVos "did not outsource jobs to China."

Although Alticor has so far provided only a half-baked statement on the subject, there's plenty of time to pin down what happened on DeVos' watch at Amway/Alticor, where he once was vice-president responsible for operations in 19 countries.

While Granholm declined to comment on DeVos and outsourcing, she said, "Outsourcing has hurt Michigan. We have just seen the loss of those jobs. It's like gravity. They're gone. I think it is an issue."

Granholm, about to go to Japan to promote Michigan investment and products such as cherries, wisely does not go so far as Brewer in condemning free trade, which has pluses and minuses for Michigan. She said North and Central American trade agreements have a "negative impact" on Michigan's economy, but are "not for a governor to decide."

Given his extensive business background, and Michigan's economic woes, jobs and trade issues clearly will be at the forefront of debate if DeVos is Granholm's opponent. Inside Michigan Politics newsletter cites current odds on his "chances to win next year's GOP primary no matter who else might be on the ballot: 1-5 (83.3 %); general election odds on Granholm's chances to beat him in November: 2-3 (60%)."

On Friday, Ed Sarpolus of Lansing-based EPIC/MRA released a June 29-July 7 poll of 934 likely 2006 voters who gave Granholm a 51-33 edge over DeVos (Margin of error: plus or minus 3.1 percentage points).

Sarpolus said DeVos is a "polarizing figure" among respondents but Granholm "has work to do in such places as Macomb County and among women under 40 years of age."

Granholm's Northern Numbers

Of five major media markets sampled, Granholm's worst showing was in the Traverse City market, which includes the northern Lower Peninsula and the eastern U.P. She trailed DeVos, 40-43. Her job approval rating in the market was 46 percent positive, 53 percent negative, the only area where her negatives were in the 50s.

Sarpolus said her worst showing in the market was "between Gaylord and the bridge."

It should be noted that such sub-samples (in this case, 71 respondents out of the statewide sample of 934) have a higher margin of error. Imperfect as they are as predictors of outcome, such public polls, and those conducted by candidates themselves, help them decide where to devote time and resources.

In EPIC/MRA's sampling grouped by map regions, Granholm's worst showing was 39 percent to DeVos' 44 percent in the northern Lower Peninsula – essentially all counties north of Clare, including counties to the east out of the Traverse City media market.

Granholm led 54-29 percent in all of the Upper Peninsula, where Sarpolus said she has "made impressive gains."

Three Ladies; Five Fish

After her Beulah speech, and before going to Traverse City for a Friday night fund-raiser at the home of attorney Mike Dettmer and Saturday's National Cherry Festival parade, Granholm camped out in Benzie County with her daughters, Kate, 15, and Cece, 14. It was a repeat of their outing at the same place last year. Friday, according to Granholm Press Secretary Liz Boyd, on an inland lake within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, they caught two perch, two sunfish, and a large mouth bass. Boyd declined to disclose "their secret place" but passed on that Granholm said "we had a ball."

Granholm vs. Cox

During a Lansing press conference Thursday, Granholm criticized Attorney General Mike Cox, who replaced her in the job, for "not doing what historically the attorney general's office has done" on item pricing – pursuing retailers who don't tag prices on products.

"She's talking utter nonsense, for lack of a better term," Cox told me. He said Granholm had "a pretty good thing going" on item pricing. "We improved on it."

Cox said that in "Granholm's best year as attorney general," she collected about $3.8 million on consumer complaints. He said he collected about $5.1 million "just last year."

George Weeks is the political columnist for The Detroit News and is syndicated by Superior Features.