News

(Posted April 12) To declare that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has been “embattled” during the past six months is an understatement of the first “water.” Snyder has been vilified by the ‘usual suspects’ among his political enemies — Democrats, liberals, progressives, union activists — over the Flint “water crisis.” But he’s also taken a beating […]

(Posted April 12) Actor Sean Astin, best-known for his film roles as Samwise Gamgee in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, as Mikey Walsh in “The Goonies” and the title character of “Rudy,” talked to a Flint audience of nearly 300 last week about his late mother Patty Duke’s lifelong struggle with bi-polar disorder. Duke won […]

(Reposted April 11) Michigan Republicans convened in the Lansing Center April 8-9 (well, some of the district caucuses huddled in the nearby Radisson Hotel Friday night) to select their delegates and alternates to the GOP National Convention in Cleveland this coming July; elect their National Committeeman and Committeewoman for the next four years; and approve […]

(April 3) The votes have been certified from Michigan’s Presidential Primary Election nearly a month ago, and, as nearly everyone knows, voter participation set records. But which party actually drew the most voters? The Republicans, but it was close, and it would have been surprising if the GOP didn’t draw more registrants, because they had more […]

(Reposted April 24) The April 19 filing deadline for state Representative has passed, and it’s already looking like the theme of this year’s contests may be “It’s a family affair.” Former state Senator Virgil Smith (D-Detroit), convicted of a felony and serving a 10-month jail sentence, resigned a month ago, precipitating a special election to fill the unexpired […]

(April 2) They don’t make ’em like Jimmie Manson anymore. Born in 1921 to Syrian-American parents, she was raised by her mother of eight children after her father died at the age of 34. She graduated from the old Lansing Central High School in 1939 (the first daughter in her family to do so), then […]

(Posted March 31) Michigan voters won’t have as many Supreme Court justices to elect this year as was the case in 2012 and 2014, but November’s verdict could flip the partisan balance on the state’s high bench. That’s because the court is now five Republicans as opposed to only two Democrats, but both seats on […]

(Reposted March 31) “Make It Emphatic — Vote Straight Democratic!” That iconic slogan has been the Michigan Democratic Party’s campaign battle cry since the Depression, inciting voters to cast their ballots for every Democratic nominee on the general election ballot. Until this year, state law has made that easy for voters because all they had […]

(Posted March 24) The best overview of the Flint water crisis — what it means and what may lie ahead — is not to be found in anything produced by the so-called “mainstream media,” either in Michigan or elsewhere. Rather, it is a balanced, broadminded article in an obscure eight-page flier published this month in […]

(April 2) Do the impending retirements of U.S. Reps. Dan Benishek (R-MI 1) and Candice Miller (R-MI 10) really change the electoral outlook for the two major political parties come Nov. 8? Right now, the Michigan GOP enjoys a 9-5 advantage in its Congressional delegation (not counting the state’s two Democratic U.S. Senators). The likeliest […]