Tim Skubick

Up the street in Motown Sunday night the bumbling Detroit Pistons bungled away their first NBA playoff game while down the street Michigan Republicans claim the state Democratic Party was busy doing the same thing at its nominating convention as it took 6 hours for 7,000 plus delegates to pick candidates for a number of jobs including secretary of state and state attorney general.

GOP chair Jim Runestad was quick to fire off a press release when his counter part, Democratic chair Curtis Hertel told the delegates that the system for registering whom could vote was not working. That included state lawmakers who should have been registered with ease but some how they barred from voting until the glitches were ironed out while delegates waited and waited. Finally around 9 pm, after the voting was scheduled to commence at 3 pm, the votes came in.

Mr. Runestad in essence extrapolated from that that if they other guys couldn’t run a convention how the heck could they run state government?

The good news for the D’s was the media focused more on the B.Ball game and in some cases some media outlets completely ignored the delay that kept delegates cooling their heels. It was not a good look but suffice it to say that alone did not have the same political gravity as the actual decisions the delegates eventually made which has far-reaching implication for the fall election.

Some of the take aways include:

Organized labor scored a mixed bag unlike back in the 50’s when unions pretty much dictated who the nominees would be and that was that.

For example the UAW locked arms with the state AFL-CIO and Emily’s List to warmly embrace Karen McDonald for attorney general. The Oakland county prosecuting attorney made national headlines with her handling of the case against the Crumbley family for its role in the death of four students at Oxford high school. Even though the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission is investigating her conduct, in a pre-convention interview she stood by her behavior and asserted she made no mistakes.

However the Progressive Caucus locked its arms with the People’s Coalition to send Ms. McDonald home minus the coveted nomination in favor of the Wastenaw county prosecutor Eli Savit who once clerked for the former U.S. Supreme court Justice Ruth Brader Ginsburg. The upset victory added more pop to the media story line that Michigan Democrats are divided while the state GOP is united under Donald Trump.

Chair Hertel argues, “in the Democratic party we allow you to have all different kind of views,” as opposed to the top down rule of Mr. Trump. “Given the choice I would rather be us than them.”

To be sure some delegates looked at the internal disagreements and applauded that by saying, “this is what Democracy looks like.”

The Secretary of State contest was lively with Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchirst benefiting from a hy-bred vote of AFL-CIO delegates joining with the Progressive Caucus and the People’s Coalition to send Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum and former state Lottery Commissioner and legal advisor to Gov. Whitmer Suzanna Shkreli back to the drawing board to figure out why the heck they lost. Both were over confident that would defeat the L.G.

Clerk Byrum noted that, “he does not have the work ethic that I have and he doesn’t have that positive election administrative passion that I have.”

You can see a line like that showing up in a GOP anti Gilchrist commercial in the fall.

Perhaps the most concerning fall out deals with events that were thousands of miles away in the Middle East. But the angst on the convention floor between the pro-Israeli and other political factions was obvious. When U.S. Senate candidate Haley Stevens, decidedly pro-Israel, took the podium, the jeers were audible And even more telling, Jewish U of M Regent Jordan Acher was handed his walking papers as the Progressive wing and allies picked Amir Makled instead.

On another front for eight years, women dominated the top three jobs in state government. The female trifecta of Gov. Whitmer, A.G. Dana Nessels and SOS Benson dominated the news cycle but if the D’s hold onto the offices, only Ms. Benson will still be around. This time as governor, but two men will fill the other two slots.

However two incumbent female members of the MSU Board of Trustees survived a brush with a female opponent who called the board “dysfunctional” as witnessed by the university “having six presidents in the last six years.” Board chair Breanna Scott and colleague Kelly Tebay Zemke denied the charge and obviously the delegates were comfortable with their record.

Which brings us to the ultimate question.

Can a divided convention switch gears and set aside those critical and emotional disagreements and unite behind their ticket in November? Answer that question and you can predict the outcome of the statewide vote.

Chair Hertel thinks Democrats can come together.

The other guys are hoping he’s dead wrong.