(Gov-MI 2006): Not a cake walk for Granholm

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...

The first problem she will run into is the states economy and unemployment. Michigan lost approximately 24,000 jobs between December 2004 and December 2005. link. The unemployment rate is hovering close to 7% and is expected to go over that soon. It's a tough nut to crack because she can't single handedly make GM and Ford profitable again. GM lost $8.6 Billion dollars last year. That looks something like this: $8,600,000,000 (or roughly two-thirds of what Exxon makes in one quarter). Right now it looks like most Michiganders are blaming the Bush administration for the states woes, but I'm guessing that's not likely to last. Link.

For those not from the state, understand that although the auto industry is huge here, they're not the only game on the block, just a large portion of it. There is also Dow Chemicals, Compuware Headquarters, Domino's and Little Caesars Pizza, a large Health Care and Insurance industry. But again, the big one is the automotive industry. One last one that you may or may not know about. Michigan is the home of Amway. A more important note is that it's parent company Alticor and Quixtar are owned by...

The Devos family. Which brings us to the BIG obstacle in the room. Jennifer Granhom is running against that lil' scamp Dick Devos, former CEO of Alticor and current bench warmer/cheerleader for the Republican party. See Christinebarry's post about all that stinks with Devos.

Devos is a billionaire. (and "the mean one" according to friends of the family. I can't source the quote, I just know some people.) He has more money than god and he's on a mission.  Between the Devos' and the Van Andels (who helped found Amway), they've helped create the purple that is the state of Michigan politics. They have a variety of PACs that they operate through, including: Altipac, Restoring the American Dream PAC, The Windquest Group, and many others. Devos has a tangled web of companies that he fronts or founded that donate to certain PAC's, candidates, and causes but most of the money comes from the Devos and Van Andel families.

Not that religion matters in this country, but his family are Calvinist Reform and between the Devos' and the Van Andels they've essential built all of Grand Rapids, MI and funded a lot of Republican campaigns.  Grand Rapids is a very religious part of Michigan.  A lot of churches, a lot of church goers not to mention a lot of Republicans in that area.  The state is basically divided into battle between the red western part of the state and a giant swath of blue on eastern side.   Granholm is facing someone with Scrooge McDuck like pockets and a history of spending his fortune on Republican causes.  I see no reason why he won't spend whatever it takes to unseat her.  He has the money to turn the RWNM up to 11.  This will probably come down to Granholm needing to raise a ton of money and whoever has the best GOTV campaign.

(side notes that may interest only me.  Dick Devos' family owns the Orlando Magic.  One of the members of the board of Restoring the American Dream PAC was also on the Enron board.  Enron and Amway are, of course, linked, but you'll have to read Christinebarry's diary for that)

It's a campaign worth watching, and should be very interesting.