Michigan Politics
Dick DeVos Spends Early; Governor Granholm Vows a Fight
By George Weeks

Republican Dick DeVos, thanks in large part to a huge TV ad blitz now estimated to cost an astounding $5 million, has scored well in opening innings of his bid to defeat Governor Jennifer Granholm.

Success in early innings does not always hold up, as the Kansas City Royals learned last week when they hit three consecutive home runs and had a first inning lead of 6-0, only to lose to the Detroit Tigers, 13-8.

But DeVos clearly has had one of Michigan's most successful launches by a gubernatorial challenger. His is the biggest early air war ever, and his ground war launch long ago reached all 83 counties.

Rich Robinson of the watchdog Michigan Campaign Finance Network, contacted by phone Friday as he was calling on TV stations to compile DeVos spending figures to be released this week, said, "I'm sure" it will be at least $5 million.

In addition, DeVos has been running a radio ad in major markets, including Up North, on energy, that is critical of "Republicans in Washington" for not doing enough to conserve, as well as of Democrats for not doing enough to expand supply.

One DeVos adviser involved in consultations about that radio ad was Matthew Dowd, a Michiganian who was a key strategist in President George W. Bush's reelection campaign.

Dowd, according to the National Journal, is chief strategist of the reelection campaign for California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who it said appears to be taking a tried-and-true "Blame Washington" tactic.

While taking that tack on energy, DeVos stops far short of distancing himself from Bush.

Granholm, meanwhile, is adhering to the same keepyour powder-dry strategy on media buys she pursued early in her 2004 election quest (this time around she has a greater need to conserve resources against a challenger she calls a "multi-billionaire"), but vowed last week in interviews with both Detroit newspapers "there will be a fight."

Retailers Endorse DeVos

In 1990, the Michigan Retailers Association endorsed incumbent Governor Jim Blanchard over GOP challenger John Engler. Current MRA Chairman and CEO Larry Meyer is Blanchard's former commerce director.

But Meyer recently hailed businessman DeVos' "underlying concern" on retailer issues, and took a swipe at Granholm, in announcing, "it's not too early to announce our firm support" for DeVos from an industry "which employs one in five people in our state."

A miffed Meyer said, "on issues of concern to retailers, we have seen little progress in the past three years and, frankly, little attempt to build a working relationship."

Meyer groused that "scheduling conflicts" prevented Granholm's acceptance of MRA's invitation to participate in its endorsement interview, "But her team might have tried harder - offering other possible dates for example - if they saw our industry as important and relevant."

MRA doesn't speak, politically, for all retailers. But Granholm might want to try harder to speak with the MRA.

Hart-Milliken Model

There's yet another stirring in the heartland of Michigan to tout former northern Michigan politicians as examples of what can be good about politics.

Thanks to fundraising efforts by ex-President Ford and others, Central Michigan University's (CMU) College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences has the Robert and Marjorie Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government that has twiceyearly forums addressing public policy issues. Traverse City's Bob Griffin was a 196678 Republican U.S. Senator who helped blow the whistle on Watergate abuses that led to the resignation of President Nixon. At this week's annual meeting

of the Detroit Regional Chamber on Mackinac Island, CMU officials plan to discuss their goal to raise $1 million for the Philip A. Hart and William G. Milliken Endowed Speaker Series for Integrity in Politics.

Hart, of Mackinac Island, was widely regarded as "the conscience of the Senate" during his 1959-76 tenure. Milliken, of Traverse City, was Michigan's longest-serving governor (1969-82).

"Politics in America has become such an ugly game weighed down by partisan bickering and an unwillingness to listen and compromise," E. Gary Shapiro, dean of the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences, said in calling Hart and Milliken shining examples of civility and integrity in politics. "There is no better time than now to teach our students to be fair leaders and to learn how to do politics a better way."

Meanwhile, the "ugly game" continues across the land.

Zap Zandstra?

The Reverend Jerry Zandstra, one of three Republicans seeking to challenge U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, said Friday he has solid evidence to back his challenge of a preliminary ruling by the Michigan Elections Bureau that he had filed just short of the required 15,000 valid petition signatures to qualify for the primary ballot.

Zandstra, on leave from a think tank in Grand Rapids, vowed "we can make a good case" when he appeals June 5 at the Board of State Canvassers meeting to certify candidates.

"At the conclusion of this process I am confident that I will remain on the ballot and will continue to advocate for the (2006 ballot) initiatives to ban racial preferences and abortion as well as for federal reforms to heal Michigan's ailing economy," said Zandstra.

State elections officials initially indicated his petitions had only 14,922 valid signatures. The other GOP candidates, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard and the Reverend Keith Butler, a former Detroit councilman, had a sizable cushion by filing 30,000 signatures (the maximum allowed). Stabenow said she collected more than 28,000.

Zandstra, a relative unknown in the party, objected that Republican State Chairman Saul Anuzis had declared Zandstra out as a result of the preliminary review and said he

was "completely satisfied with the two remaining candidates." Zandstra contends Anuzis staffers alerted reporters to the preliminary figures.

State elections officials are career civil servants within the department of Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, a Republican who had considered running for the Senate but has endorsed Bouchard. Zandstra said, "I don't think there's any foul play at all" in Land's department. "I do not have any information to suggest that Secretary Land has done her job in anything but professional manner with the utmost integrity."

Butler, an AfricanAmerican long active in the Michigan GOP, was the early leader in fundraising and endorsements, including Representatives David Camp, Joe Knollenberg, Candice Miller, Mike Rogers, Joe Schwarz, and Fred Upton. Bouchard, based on polling and assessments of party leaders, is viewed as the current frontrunner.

George Weeks recently retired after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.