Michigan Republicans remain calm, prepare to face a new era

The drinks were free but the mood was sober at the Elks Club in Traverse City last night as Republican campaigners gathered to watch the election results on a big screen TV tuned to FOX.

Northern Michigan is a generally red area of still-blue Michigan. Grand Traverse County has been represented in the state Legislature by Republicans since at least 1980, but the contest this year was competitive for Wayne Schmidt of Traverse City who sought the House seat in the 104th District and was still uncertain of his victory at midnight as the Elks Club crowd thinned to a handful and Obama delivered his victory speech in downtown Chicago’s Grant Park.

“Comrade!” someone mockingly shouted as Obama began his address. Only half the people in the room seemed to pay attention to the next president, and those who did seemed most moved by Obama’s promise that his children could get a puppy. Some applauded Sarah Palin and one carefully coiffed woman cried as McCain pointed to Palin and thanked her.

Schmidt did win, and at 42, he has followed a charted path to statewide office. He works for the Captain’s Quarters, a conservative men’s clothing store downtown, and was a county commissioner for ten years. The Captain’s Quarters is co-owned by Schmidt’s father and Republican State Senator Jason Allen who moved from suit sales to county government, to the state House and the state Senate and is now term-limited.

The Republican Party provided Schmidt with campaign staff and he had a strong ground campaign based around door-to-door canvassing but negative campaign ads created and paid-for by the state Republican Party were not a clear help to Schmidt. The ads portrayed his Democratic opponent, Roman Grucz, as a rotten apple and as swearing (on a Bible) that he would raise income taxes. Schmidt said he had no control over the ads and insisted he’d run a positive campaign, but some observers said that the harsh negative tone the state party chose to use with local voters shows a disconnect with local Republican sensibilities.

Schmidt gave independents some credit for his victory.

One middle-aged man who preferred to remain anonymous said he was a Milliken Republican-turned-independent who supported Schmidt though he was also an “ardent” Obama supporter. He said he found the negative campaign materials “highly offensive“ and said it was time for an overhaul of the Republican Party.

Speaking quietly in the corner of the banquet room he said, “The Republicans need to quietly sit down and come up with some meaningful concepts.”

Former Traverse City Commissioner Fred Nelson also identified himself as a Milliken Republican-turned-independent.

“We are good Christians about recycling,” he said about his family as he talked about the need for new, clean sources of energy. He also said he deplored the power of lobbyists in Lansing.

“Abortion was never a good issue for the Republicans,” he said. “They need a new focus.”

Nelson, whose wife is from Canada, said the U.S. should adopt a universal health care plan on the Canadian model.

One young campaign worker said he didn’t decide to vote for McCain until Election Day and that he did so out of a desire to keep working for the Republicans. “I wish third parties had more to do,” he said. “Two parties are not enough.”

“I do believe in the Republican ideology,” he said, “and especially pro-life issues … But a government does have a responsibility to take care of its citizens.”

He said the McCain campaign made a serious mistake in giving up on Michigan so early and that the choice of Sarah Palin undermined his argument that experience matters.

“Still,” he said as he watched the remaining people trickle out into the unseasonably warm night, “I don’t think the next four years are going to be as bad as some people think.”