Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Courage of John Cherry

My first reaction to this Freep piece featuring John Cherry was an entirely selfish one. "Thank God. I won't feel so horribly alone on the internet anymore", my thinking being that I would be the only one out here for the next two years highlighting the positives from the Granholm administration and sticking up for the Michigan Dems. My second reaction was, "Wow. Here is a guy that is willing to stand up for the good things that we have done, for the progress we have made, and not cower in fear from the Republican talking points that dominate the media and the public discourse". And then I get all pissed off that the Democrats have allowed that to happen in the first place, but, moving on...

John Cherry has to know what is going on out here. He's not stupid. He hears the "chattering class" loud and clear I bet. And yet, he proudly points to the accomplishments that have been made, despite the challenges of this economy. Dzwonkowski hits him with a big dose of Saul, and he easily bats it down....

Cherry: I think, for one, some of the things we've done, a great deal of the things we've done in the Granholm administration, is going to have a positive impact on building Michigan's future economy, in terms of attracting new businesses, in terms of building the kind of higher education system that we need to develop talented people, improving the Great Lakes to make sure that we attract people, making sure that we have alternative energy so that we are energy independent from the Middle East and can export the technology that we develop in this state.

A number of good things are happening, so, I'm one that, first of all, will defend our record, and suggest that the type of change that we are going to have, and Michigan will change, is the kind of change the I represent, one that recognizes that we have to stop this downward spiral that we are seeing as the auto industry changes and grapples with its future challenges, we have to begin to invest in this state's future, protecting those institutions that will make Michigan strong in the future like education, the Great Lakes, alternative energy, and those are the things that the governor has stood for.


And then he tells the truth about the Republican Party and their ideas- pay attention, because this is where they will lose the game...

Cherry: I would suggest that what the Republican will have to offer is really quite frankly not much different from what President Bush has offered, or what we have saw occur here at the national level, when we talked about the auto loans that were important for saving Michigan's basic industry...

Dzwonkowsi: The Republican Senators who opposed...

Cherry: They turned their back on Michigan, and I don't think we need to have someone who will turn their back on us, lead us.


And there it is. The Republicans once again will try to run against Granholm...

Republican pollsters said Cherry may have just handed the GOP its basic campaign message: " 'Do you really want eight more years of a one-state recession?' I can see the slogan now," said Lansing political consultant Tom Shields of Marketing Resource Group. "If the lieutenant governor wants to run on a record of losing a half-million jobs, the Republicans will certainly welcome that."


... and offer up their extremist Norquist/Bush ring-wing ideas as the "solution": the elimination of "government", which causes government to be dysfunctional, more tax cuts for business and the wealthy, cuts to programs that citizens want and need, more focus on divisive social issues like equal rights for gays and abortion, etc. and so on.

That worked so well in '06 and '08, didn't it? Not only did we win the governor's chair in huge numbers in '06, we took back the House, increased the numbers in '08, and now have started to take back the Supreme Court. Yes, you just keep on bashing Granholm, Pubs. It's a proven winning strategy. For us.

While John Cherry might have to deflect criticism of the Michigan economy by the boxcar load, at least he doesn't have to defend an entire failed philosophy of governing, and that is all the Republicans will have to offer, and you know it. We are doing the right things and moving in the right direction - all it takes is for the Democrats to have the courage to stand up and point it out. And if they do, maybe some of that will start to stick in the media for a change, and we can finally drown the "drown government" crowd in the bathtub. Or one of the Great Lakes, I don't care which. Just get it done because I'm tired of listening to them.

It is either that, or we can continue to let Saul set the tone as we wring our hands and always wait for that "perfect" progressive candidate that never, ever materializes. For me, I'll stick with the fighters who fight now, because I know we are doing the right things here.

Thank you Lt. Governor. I don't really want to start to play Election 2010 yet, but my hope is that if we have to, we start setting the stage this year with positive talking points and action with an eye towards the future. After all, I want to sweep the Senate, too.

You can watch the full interview below and see what we are up against- and by the way, kudos to the Freep for their video work lately. It's getting better all the time.



The LG also offered up his plan for improving the Great Lakes yesterday, which is why he was making the editorial rounds in the first place. You can check that out here at the DEQ Great Lakes page.