I know, in theory this is where I should have composed a rant about Dick DeVos, George W. Bush, the Republicans, Foleygate, or something along those lines.
But I don't have that this time.

This is more of a GOTV tools kind of thing.  I realize people visiting this sight are pretty politically intune, and all of this is old hat.  But we all have friends who make excuses as to why they won't vote.  This is an effort to eliminate excuses with simple tools and information.

My friends recieved two more robo-calls regarding welfare and gun control.  Check it out.

I honestly don't know how seriously to take this article in Newsweek Online.

Saul Anuzis is Dick Devos' campaign manager.  In this article he claims that the Republicans are targeting "snowmobilers" as one of the micro targets for the election.

more below...

I recieved yet another robo-call against Granholm.  This time it's from "Michigan Working Families", an deliberatly fuzzy name of a group I had difficulty finding any info on after a fifteen minute search on the googleweb (trademark pending).
At first brush it sounds like the caller accused Granholm of being directly responsible for the death of 7 Year Old Ricky Hollands tragic death.
More on the flip, including a link to the call.

In the online edition of Newsweek, Evan Thomas writes about the effectiveness of torture and cites the TV show '24' as a touchstone of what Americans assume torture is.

"It's probably not too farfetched to say that what most Americans know about torture comes from watching the TV show "24." (There is even a Web site called The Jack Bauer Torture Report.) Jack and his comrades and enemies have at various moments on the Fox television program used electrical wires, heart defibrillators, old-fashioned bone breaking and chemical injections to wrest information from their captives. In one episode, Agent Bauer forced a terrorist to watch streaming video--staged--of his child's execution. The terrorist talked."

Here's the background on this:

The Michigan Democratic Party is running an Ad that notes how DeVos eliminated jobs in Michigan while investing heavily in China.  

Within hours DeVos was running a rebuttal commercial, and threatening TV stations to try and get them to take the MDP commercial off of the air.

History of this here courtesy of Wizardkitten.

Today my friends got recorded phone call accusing Granholm of race baiting.  More below.

John Truscott can't be happy with this:

(Updated link from Mlive courtesy of wizardkitten)

Businessman gathers Republican support for Granholm

Gil Ziegler, 68, said he wants to see Republicans keep control of the state House and Senate and win other statewide offices. But when it comes to a choice between GOP gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos and Granholm, he's voting Democratic.

"As an automotive supplier, no one needs to tell me that Michigan has taken some hard hits in its manufacturing economy," said Ziegler, who owns Alken-Ziegler, a privately held metal forming and machining company with offices in Kalkaska and Livonia, where Ziegler also has a home.

Even if this isn't a trend, it's good news and makes a good headline. I'd like to see more hits like this. I'm just waiting for the avalanche of bad news for DeVos.

Here's what the Detroit News had to say Saturday about Bill Clinton's visit to Michigan:

Clinton ignored the terror war

Former President Bill Clinton stopped by Metro Detroit last week to rally Democrats to the reelection bids of Gov. Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Clinton accused Republicans of trying to scare Americans with overblown terrorism fears. Clinton will go down in history as the Neville Chamberlain of the war on terror for failing to confront Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups while they were in their formative stages.

Let's take a look at what they're saying, shall we?

I have to admit, I'm a little frustrated with how poorly the Granholm campaign appears to be using any sort of non-media marketing.
One thing I look forward to during an election cycle are the fun ways I get to show support for my preferred candidate.  Whether it's a "Clinton - The Cure for the Blues" button or the John Kerry retro t-shirt I was sporting in '04, I like being able to show my support in a smart and fun way.  
Even though this is just a gubenatorial race, I kind of feel Granholm is lacking in that department.  More after the leap.

Today in Michigan a big deal is being made of this:

Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her husband recently had to pay more than $800 in penalties and interest after failing to file two unemployment insurance reports on time.

Granholm and her husband said they were unaware of the lien on their former residence and paid the fine promptly.  Which hasn't stopped the Dick DeVos campaign from commenting:

A spokesman for Granholm's Republican rival, Dick DeVos, said the governor also has had problems with filing campaign finance reports for her Executive Office Administrative Account.

"It's an unfortunate trend that we see given the numerous IRS violations with her 527 account," John Truscott said.

(more below)

As kos noted, the Michigan Governor race is pulling even.  For anyone who thinks this is going to be anything short of a dogfight is fooling themselves.

We know a lot about Governor Jennifer Granhom.  She was one of the speakers at the Democratic convention in '04 (and I was proud of her, even if she seemed a wee bit overwhelmed)  Given the rotten state of the states economy and the blown budget that Engler had left her, she's done a very good job.  But she has a lot of obstacles to overcome.

Break on through and find out...