Register by October 10 to vote in the November Michigan elections

Just a friendly reminder that you must register to vote by October 10 (next Tuesday) in order to vote in the November 7 election in Michigan. Information on registering to vote can be found at www.Michigan.gov/sos. Check your voter registration status at www.michigan.gov/vote.

Remember, if you want to complain about our state government, taxes, and anything else that can be determined by elections - Get Out and Vote!

Three truths turned up in the Granholm vs. DeVos debate

Well, you would have to sift through a lot of rhetoric and all too typical mud-slinging by both candidates last night to find some interesting points made by either candidate. This wasn't a debate, it was more like a schoolyard fistfight. It was exactly what I hoped it would not be. However, I was able to sort through the debate trash and find a few gems. Here they are:

1. Dick DeVos still lacks specifics for certain aspects of his plan to turn Michigan around. He wants to replace the Single Business Tax with a lesser and broader tax that will leave the state short about $1 billion. Granholm told him good luck finding $1 billion in the budget to cut and that more cuts in the budget will lead to necessary services for the young, old, and poor to be cut.
2. DeVos challenged Granholm on her claims when she first took office that in 1 and 1/2 years Michigan would be on the right track. Her 2006 State of the State address mentioned a 5 Year Plan for Michigan's economic recovery. The Lunchbucket Conservative Blog mentions a famous Ronald Reagan quote from a debate in 1980 - "Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?"
3. Granholm was the better debater. She was calm, cool, and in control of the debate while appearing to keep DeVos on the run a little bit. Whether or not winning debates means winning the election in November remains to be seen.

Hopefully as these debates progress we will see more meat to significant issues and a plan of some kind from both candidates become clear. I think this debate was a kind of reconnaissance mission to scout out each other and see how they would react to certain issues.

For a few clips of the debate head over to WWMT Channel 3 for an almost 5 minute long video of some of the highlights of the debate.

Granholm and DeVos debate is tonight at 8

Governor Jennifer Granholm and her Republican challenger, Dick DeVos, kick off their series of three debates tonight at 8 p.m. in East Lansing. You can catch the debate live on any Michigan public television station. The debate will have an open question and answer format that will hopefully rise above rhetoric and result in some additional information on the two candidates.

Via the Detroit Free Press.

Online Sturgis Journal poll shows DeVos leading Granholm

An informal online poll on the homepage of the Sturgis Journal shows Dick DeVos leading Jennifer Granholm 57% to 38% with the remaining 5% of the votes cast as 'other.' It is a small sample size (442 total votes as of this morning), but it does tend to show what the residents of one of Michigan's poorer counties thinks. The residents of St. Joseph county are asking themselves if they are better off or worse off than they were 4 years ago. By looking at their votes and the mood around southwest Michigan I would have to say that folks around here believe they are worse off than they were 4 years ago. Granted this is a very small sample size, but I would wager that if you were able to poll 1,000 residents of St. Joseph county you would reach similar results.

The question is, how does the rest of the state feel? Are we better or worse than 4 years ago and how much does that affect your vote for governor of Michigan.

DeVos and Granholm to hold three televised debates

Speaking of pirates politics, I see that Dick DeVos and current Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm will be squaring off for three televised debates in October. The debates will take place October 2 in Lansing, October 10 in Grand Rapids, and October 16 in Southfield. It should be interesting to see what comes out of these debates regardless of who the pundits say "wins" the debate. Will Jennifer Granholm expound on how she is helping Michigan shake of the economic doldrums? Will Dick DeVos provide some clarity on his plan to turn Michigan around?

Hopefully instead of muddying the political waters with more rhetoric these two candidates for the next governor of Michigan will instead bring some fresh ideas on how to make Michigan better with some hard facts to back them up. Wouldn't that be a breath of fresh air in the realm of politics?

Via the Detroit Free Press.

Granholm increases her lead over DeVos

Governor Jennifer Granholm has increased her lead over her Republican challenger, Dick DeVos to 7 points at 49% to 42%. The poll was conducted by Detroit News/WXYZ-TV on Monday and Tuesday of this week. 600 "likely voters" (um, does this mean that they are not all registered voters?) were polled. I would like some information on the demographics for this poll. Are these "likely voters" registered voters? Is there only a fraction of them that are registered?

Polls always bother me. Not just political ones, but any kind of poll. They never really give a lot of information on the people giving the opinions.

This leads me to this question. Has anyone out there ever heard this phrase?

Figures can lie and liars can figure.

Also, 80% of all figures are made up. By the way, I just made that up :). Go figure.