Come to the light, people...
ESCANABA — Some Michigan Republicans are crossing party lines to support Gov. Jennifer Granholm. After weighing the issues and evaluating the candidates, the members of Republicans for Granholm decided that Granholm would be a better governor than GOP contender Dick DeVos, said Gil Ziegler, chairman of Republicans for Granholm, who visited Escanaba Wednesday.
It wasn’t easy for Ziegler, a Charlevoix businessman, to decide who would be the best leader for Michigan. “I’m a Republican. I’ve been a Republican all my life. ...It took a lot of soul searching,” he said. However, once Ziegler had weighed the benefits of each candidate, he chose Granholm, he said.
Nicholas Baise, treasurer of Republicans for Granholm, said he joined the organization in part because he trusts Granholm’s economic plan. He praised her ability to balance budgets during trying economic times. As a Republican, Baise wanted to support someone with fiscal responsibility, he said. “Granholm best represents those views,” explained Baise, who visited Escanaba with Ziegler.
That much should be obvious by now.
There is also the wingnut factor.
Some have categorized Ziegler, who in 1994 ran an unsuccessful campaign for Congress, as a moderate Republican, he said. “I resent it. I’m the same Republican I was 40 years ago,” said Ziegler. It is the Republican Party, in general, that has moved too far to the right, he said.
When the Republicans for Granholm campaign was launched in late August, Ziegler believed other Republicans felt the same things he did. Early on, the Republicans for Granholm Web site got 50,000 hits in four days, he said, with 1,000 people signing up as members. The organization hopes to reach “independent, undecided, mainstream Republicans,” said Ziegler.
Many Republicans have moved too far to the right on social issues, said Ziegler, owner of Alken-Ziegler, an auto supply company located in Kalkaska and Livonia.
Bring a bunch of your friends with you, moderates.