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By saul anuzis Posted in Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce | Mackinac Island | Michigan Republican Party | Republicans | Saul Anuzis — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

158 Day until Election Day

May 30, 2008

MORNING UPDATE:

DETROIT CHAMBER CONFERENCE...we did a series of radio, TV and print interviews about the upcoming general election. McCain 44%-40% lead over Obama was the main talk on the political news.

LEADERSHIP...dominates the discussion about what this state needs. There is clearly a general frustration amongst Republicans and Democrats that until we have some bold ideas and real leadership...things are not going to change.

TERM LIMIT EXTENSION...not repeal, was openly discussed by legislative leaders. A broad consensus appears to be growing to extend term limits, but an out right repeal seemed to draw very little political support.

McCAIN VICTORY '08 CHAIR CARLY FIORINA...addressed the leadership conference at dinner saying: "Every city, every state, has to compete to companies and attract jobs," she said, "and Michigan is at the very bottom of the pile" in terms of its perceived business climate. Governor Granholm...do you get the hint???

BREWER PITCHING...and trying to distort the Supreme Court's record with NO candidate and no campaign. It doesn't seem like anyone was listening too much to him spin his dribble.

DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS...Newt Gingrich discusses the politician driven energy crisis where Democrats refuse to allow America to rid itself of its dependence on foreign oil and energy. Please sign Newt's petition and help drive this issue to the top of America's agenda. It's time to stand up and fight!

HOLD THE DATE...our Max Fisher National Leadership Award Dinner is set for June 25th in the metro Detroit area. Please hold the date...we are expecting a very special guest as we prepare for the fall election!

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THE REST OF THE STORY:

No further commentary today.

TODAY'S TOP STORIES

The following stories and more are available at my Articles of Interest online.

Detroit waiting for Obama Mackinac Island

Some city Democrats suspect he's avoiding Kilpatrick
BY DAWSON BELL and KATHLEEN GRAY • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • May 30, 2008

MACKINAC ISLAND -- Barack Obama's plan for a town hall meeting in Oakland County on Monday, his second Michigan trip in the last three weeks, sends a signal that he expects to become a regular visitor to the state in coming months.

But Obama's itinerary so far -- he visited Macomb and Kent counties May 15, plus the upcoming Oakland visit -- raises the question: When will he visit Detroit?

Many of the politically well connected attending the Detroit Regional Chamber conference Thursday had an answer: not for a while.

Skubick: High court race waits

State Democrats are struggling to pick candidate
• May 30, 2008 • From Lansing State Journal

You can't beat anybody with nobody and Michigan Democrats, who desperately want to remove the black robe from State Supreme Court Chief Justice Cliff Taylor this fall, are taking their good old time finding that somebody.

Some heavyweights have already turned down the offer, including Judge Robert Columbo Jr. from the Wayne County bench.

Former Oakland County jurist Jessica Cooper was eager to take on the incumbent GOP jurist.

At Mackinac, Granholm to call for action on energy, education, prisons

BY TOM WALSH • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • May 29, 2008

MACKINAC ISLAND -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm, in her first public appearance since abdominal surgery April 29, will challenge Michigan's business leaders Friday to join her in a push to enact new energy laws, create new smaller high schools and slash spending on prisons.

Granholm, in a speech to the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference, also will offer to share savings from Corrections Department reform directly with business via reduction of the Michigan Business Tax, she told me in a telephone interview Wednesday.

One topic she will not discuss is her plan for handling the Detroit City Council's request to remove Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office. When asked about the Kilpatrick matter, she simply said it would be inappropriate for her to discuss it.

Organizer: Drive for part-time Michigan Legislature is dead

Gary Heinlein / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

MACKINAC ISLAND -- A ballot drive to ask voters to approve a part-time legislature is dead, the leader of the effort said today at the Detroit Regional Chamber's annual policy conference.

"We've got the grassroots and the infrastructure. What we don't have is the professional staff to go out and get signatures, or to pay petition circulators," said Kalamazoo Chamber of Commerce President Steward Sandstrom.

He was a participant in a morning debate on Michigan's term-limits law, which restricts three top state officials and Senate members to two, four-year terms and House members to three, two-year House terms. Patrick Anderson, author of the term-limits law, and former U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz of Battle Creek, who also served in the state Senate, also were on the panel.

Legal bills may cost Detroit $70K

Christine MacDonald / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Taxpayers are being asked to foot at least $70,000 in legal bills to represent two city attorneys whose conduct during the settlement of a police whistle-blower trial is under investigation by the Attorney Grievance Commission.

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has submitted requests to the City Council to pay two law firms $20,000 apiece to represent Corporation Counsel John Johnson Jr. and Freedom of Information Act attorney Ellen Ha during the probe by the agency, said Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel. The agency investigates allegations of attorney misconduct.

Kilpatrick submitted two other legal bills for Johnson: one for $10,000 related to the City Council's three-day hearings into the scandal and another $20,000 for the criminal investigation of Kilpatrick by Wayne County prosecutors.

Fieger jury signals verdict could take a while

BY DAVID ASHENFELTER • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • May 30, 2008

Federal court jurors went home Thursday without reaching a verdict in the case of Southfield lawyer Geoffrey Fieger and law partner Vernon (Ven) Johnson, who are accused of reimbursing $127,000 to employees and others for contributing to John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign.

The jury asked to review trial exhibits throughout the day and asked U.S. District Judge Paul Borman whether members could leave this afternoon to attend graduation parties for their children -- an indication that it might be far from reaching a verdict.

Deliberations resume at 9 a.m. today. The jury began deliberating at noon Wednesday following 20 days of trial and arguments.

Michigan's Democratic primary results have no meaning

Donald W. Riegle

Having represented Michigan in Congress for 28 years -- including 18 years in the U.S. Senate -- I have followed the 2008 Michigan Democratic primary with keen interest and am deeply troubled by the flawed nature of that primary -- its renegade status in violation of Democratic National Committee rules and the false assertion that the results have any valid meaning.

As is now well known, it was a sham primary -- in which the names of Obama, Edwards, and Richardson did not appear on the ballot -- and where Clinton's name did appear -- but should not have under the DNC rules and understandings.

As the Rules and Bylaws Committee meets to determine whether to seat delegates from Michigan, it is important to consider important facts related to the Michigan Democratic presidential primary. Many of these facts are not widely understood.

The Line: Ranking the McCain vs. Obama Battlegrounds

Zero hour in the Democratic nomination fight is nearing, and with just a few days left until the final primaries on June 3, Barack Obama remains the all-but-certain nominee against John McCain in the fall.

Obama's ability to hold off Hillary Rodham Clinton over the last month makes our task of ranking the states most likely to switch from the Republican to the Democratic column (or vice versa) in 2008 much easier.

Top Democrats ask delegates to commit

Obama in good health for race

Christina Bellantoni
Friday, May 30, 2008

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yesterday said top Democratic leaders will push undeclared superdelegates to pick sides next week and end the long fight for the party's presidential nomination.

The Nevada Democrat said he, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean agree that the delegate fight between front-runner Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton shouldn't last until the convention in August.

"By this time next week, it will all be over give or take a day," Mr. Reid said in San Francisco.

White women cold toward Obama

By DAVID PAUL KUHN | 5/29/08 3:14 PM EST Updated: 5/30/08 7:01 AM EST

Barack Obama's favorability ratings among white women has declined significantly in recent months, particularly among Democrats and independents, presenting an immediate obstacle for the likely Democratic nominee as he moves to shore up his party's base.

According to a new report by The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, half of white women now have a negative perception of Obama.

Forty-nine percent of white women view Obama unfavorably, while only 43 percent hold a favorable opinion. In February, 36 percent of these women viewed Obama unfavorably, while 56 percent had a positive perception of the likely Democratic nominee.