I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
A published report about potential Republican governor candidate Rick Snyder may reveal the control and depth of the social conservatives on the Republican Party.
The Detroit Free Press published a bio story today about Rick Snyder, a former Gateway CEO who wants to run for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. The last part of the story by Dawson Bell highlights how Snyder is decidedly out-of-step with the core of Republican Party base:
Then there is the problem of positions Snyder has articulated. Some are fundamentally at odds with the party’s base. Consider:
He supports using human embryos to create stem cells for medical research. He favors government recognition of rights for gay and lesbian couples much like those accorded married couples. He opposed the ban on race and gender preferences approved by Michigan voters in 2006.
In a general election, those stands might make Snyder attractively moderate. But first, he would have to win a Republican primary in which the dominant bloc of voters remains socially conservative.
And if the editorializing at RightMichigan.com is any indication, Snyder will have to do a lot to attract more conservative Republicans to his candidacy.
In a post highlighting the Freep article, poster ConservativeFox writes:
After reading that, begs to question…. what party is Rick Snyder a part of, because those are NOT the ideals of the Republican Party.
To which blog owner Nick DeLeeuw writes:
The guy’s given thousands of dollars to liberal Democrats and even more cash to organizations designed explicitly to eliminate the right to life from the Republican Party.
To Snyder, apparently, that amounts to moderation. The rest of us just call it pro-abortion liberalism.
But this is not the first time Right Michigan has opined about Snyder. A search of the site finds 10 posts related to the former CEO.
In a post March 21 about Snyder’s pro-choice views, ProudRepub wrote:
Being only fiscally conservative doesn’t cut it. We need someone who isn’t going to veto a ban on partial-birth abortions! Someone who is going to stand up and defend our beliefs! Snyder is not that person.
Yet in an earlier post on March 21, Jerry Zandstra, a pro-life leader in the state GOP and the state itself, Zandstra says Snyder is “indeed” pro-life.
In fact, in the interview with Zandstra, Snyder shares his pro-life, anti-abortion beliefs:
Where are you on abortion?
I am a pro-life, pro-family Republican. It is unfortunate there isn’t consensus on this issue, but I understand the strong emotional argument on both sides. What there must be consensus on however is a commitment on the quality of life we offer Michigan children and to future generations: A great education; good and plentiful jobs; safe and vibrant communities; and a clean environment.
He also espouses a traditional marriage view, when asked:
What about gay marriage?
I believe that marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman and thus oppose gay marriage. I also believe people have the right to enter into other types of agreements other than marriage.
That marriage response brought this March 22 response from MichiganPerspective:
Right to arrange in agreements–including civil unions, the gateway to same-sex marriage. Rick Snyder would have opposed the Defense of Marriage amendment in 2004 (amendment language below). We have to stop this guy before he tries to buy the party. Snyder can’t buy me. He can’t buy you. But he obviously can buy the Yobs and Jerry Zandstra. Pro-choice, pro-same sex marriage. I’ll take a conservative over Snyder.
This failure in playing to the socially conservative base is one thing, but Right Michigan is promoting a claim that Snyder distributed an email announcing endorsements by party leadership which he did not recieve. The blog is written and posted by Nick, the RightMichigan.com owner.
In fact, when Snyder’s name started appearing, Nick posted a blog in which he attacked Snyder, then a complete unknown.
“Moderate,” fair readers, is code for one thing and one thing only when it’s followed by the word “Republican”… weak knees on the life issue and unequivocal support for abortion-on-demand. “Moderate” almost always means pro-abortion.
If RightMichigan.com’s blog’s and comments are any indication, Snyder is not playing well with the social conservative base of the Michigan GOP.
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