Republican Attorney General of Michigan, Bill Schuette, appears to be laying the fundraising bedrock to follow Republican Gov. Rick Snyder in the governor's seat in 2018. Yeah, this is the guy who has yet to meet a lawsuit against Obamacare he doesn't fall in love with, has a woody for denying gay families the right to access marriage and generally disdains everyone who is not a straight white Christian male who worships in exactly the same charismatic Christian foot stomping way he does. He wants to be the next governor.
He started last week with a fundraiser at the Republican Attorneys General Association gathering in Washington, D.C. Then he came back to Michigan and knee-capped Snyder's road funding ballot proposal. He said that plan was full of potholes.
That move resulted in a slap down by the Detroit Free Press editorial board.
"If you're asking yourself why Schuette has swerved so sharply out of his lane — we can make terrible road puns, too! — you need look no further than 2018. Despite his assertion that his stance on Proposal 1 is simply a matter of policy, even the most obtuse of political watchers could easily surmise that Schuette intends to run for governor; Snyder is in his second and final term," the editorial team wrote. "The attorney general, who is also term-limited, recently held a Washington, D.C., fund-raiser. Why would a term-limited elected official without steep campaign debts raise cash? Don't be obtuse. Also similarly transparent are Schuette's recent efforts to position himself as a public defender of literacy, another step out of the AG's traditional role.
"What Schuette's opposition comes down to, his spokeswoman said, is that the attorney general is concerned about the tax increase. Not, apparently, a craven attempt to court conservative voters in 2018.
"We don't buy it. And you shouldn't, either."