Detroit Free Press Nancy Kaffer column
By Nancy Kaffer, Detroit Free Press | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
It's an effort likely doomed to failure -- but it points out, in stark terms, the schism within the
Nakagiri is a tea party adherent, and though Calley is a conservative, party extremists have sworn to unseat Calley. Snyder, with whom the tea party's complaints really lie, is untouchable -- as sitting governor, the Republican gubernatorial nomination was his for the taking. So tea party members are stuck with Snyder.
Calley's not so safe. If you're not familiar with this process -- lucky you! -- here's how it works. Each political party elects delegates, at the district and county level, who attend the statewide convention. (
At that convention, delegates vote to nominate candidates for lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general,
Why are tea partiers fussed with Snyder? They think he's too liberal, a charge that might cause some Democrats to guffaw, loudly -- this is the same governor who shepherded in right-to-work, has signed anti-gay rights legislation stopping same-sex partner benefits for state employees, refused to take a stand on gay marriage, has shifted a good chunk of state revenue collection from businesses onto seniors and the poor and seems open to an extreme (right-wing) re-envisioning of the public school system.
But because Snyder supported the Common Core educational standards and
In the run-up to Saturday,
It's hard to calculate exactly the results of the tea party's county-level push -- the group won 120 Oakland County delegate spots, but lost 160. More than 2,000 delegates will vote Saturday. Calley also has worked to shore up support on the tea party side of the aisle, campaigning with U.S. Rep.
In
"My sense is they see this as the opportunity to have a statewide platform to advance these positions that the tea party wing of the
Still, longtime Republican strategist
"The governor wouldn't be able to leave the state for four years," McLellan said. "He'd have to be very careful, because the moment he stepped out of the state, the lieutenant governor would be able to appoint judges" and sign and veto bills. "The acting governor has all the powers of the governor. It's not purely symbolic."
I'm not sure what any of this says about Snyder's chances in November, when he faces Democratic challenger
From a purely political standpoint, this dissension in the
Tea party legislators have spent the last four years gumming up the legislative works, blocking a health care exchange and trying to obstruct the state's
The inability to corral the more extreme elements of the
This is the same Legislature that can't get a roads package through, never mind that
Intransigent extremism can offer obstruction for the sake of ideology. But can it move
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