When candidates, campaign managers, and political consultants say their prayers at night, they most likely ask that Michigan voters continue to be ignorant.

That’s because an ill-informed citizen is easy to exploit for political gain.

Or, to put it another way, it is infinitely easier to pull the wool over the eyes of a voter who is too lazy to do his or her homework on a candidate for this office or that.

The most glaring example goes back to the reign of U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. He created the now infamous Contract with America aimed at overhauling the U.S. government, including making some changes to the Social Security system … the third rail of politics that sends senior citizens for a double dose of their pain pills.

While the Newtser was doing that back in D.C., Michigan Democrats were busy back here exploiting the ignorance of voters.

Here was the scheme that the Democrats used against Republican candidates running for the Michigan state House.

They would run commercials with a mugshot of the candidate next to an unflattering picture of the House speaker while the announcer warned voters that, “Newt Gingrich wants to take away your social security, and fellow Republican (insert name here, depending on the district) is running for the Michigan House. Don’t let him win.”

Is the statement true?

Ironclad.

Is the statement misleading?

You bet.

Did uninformed voters fall for it?

Of course.

Any savvy citizen would have known that the state Legislature does not operate the Social Security system, and so, despite the attempt to link the local candidate to that national issue, whether you voted for him or her would have zippo impact on what Gingrich was doing.

Which brings us to the current race for control of the Michigan state House next November.

Democratic state House Speaker Joe Tate is laser-focused on keeping control, and, when asked the other day if President Joe Biden’s policy to get more electric vehicles on the road might hurt his chances of keeping that control, he was very supportive of the president in general, and, on the EV issue, he said it would not be a detriment.

He forcefully explained it was not going to make any difference, because the Democrats were going to run on state issues that impact voters back home. They would present the list of Democratic accomplishments, from tax cuts to gun safety measures, and, according to his game plan, the voters will reward the Democrats with their votes and continued control.

Not so fast, warns veteran and affable Michigan political consultant Adrian Hemond, who used to work on the House Democratic staff.

Speaker Tate’s premise is that voters know their local lawmaker and have paid attention to what he or she has been passing in Lansing.

Hemond believes “the majority (back home) don’t know who your representative is, and Joe Biden is the Democratic chief this year. They need him to do better.”

Further, Hemond argues, our politics has become so nationalized that locals are only paying attention to the national dialogue, and the accomplishments of Michigan state House Democrats are not part of that nationwide conversation.

Hence, one could say the speaker’s plan may be a walk through the political graveyard, with a tombstone that reads, “Here Lies Democratic House Control, 2024.”

Hemond concludes that if by November Biden is losing to Donald Trump, the Democrats running for the state House down the ballot could lose votes, and the Republicans will have a “slight” shot at taking back control.

Which means we now have competing prayers going up to heaven. Republicans want voter ignorance, and the Democrats want electorate enlightenment.

Any betting money on whose prayers will be answered?