PRIMARY BATTLES

MARK HEMINGWAY's "High Noon in Michigan" (July 3 / July 10) contained errors that could have been easily avoided had the author called me or anyone authorized to represent the Michigan Republican party for comment with regard to Michigan's role in the 2008 GOP presidential nominating process.

In the open presidential primary in 2000, self-identified Democrats and Independents equaled the number of Republicans voting in the GOP primary. Last year, the Michigan Republican party sought to alter the process to avoid the same dynamic in 2008. Ensuring that Michigan Republican voters determine who is awarded presidential delegates is not my goal alone, but rather one that was voted on by the Michigan Republican State Committee. Since passage by the GOP state committee, we have come to an agreement with the Michigan Democratic party whereby both parties will hold their primary on the same day and participants will have to choose one ballot, either Republican or Democrat. This agreement now needs legislative approval.

Further, I am not now, nor have I ever been, a partner, employed by, or in any way financially affiliated with the Sterling Corporation. Although Sterling does do consulting work for the Michigan Republican party and also for numerous other political and corporate clients, it is because of their abilities and proven success that I value their contribution, not for any other reason.

Hemingway was correct in the sense that there is energy and excitement in Michigan. The hubbub is not the result of candidates wrangling for position in 2008, however, but of Dick DeVos's campaign of hope and leadership needed to bring Michigan back, and the opportunity to send a U.S. senator to Washington who will fight for Michigan instead of wasting space for six more years. This is our focus, this is our goal, and this is what drives the Michigan Republican party.

SAULIUS "SAUL" ANUZIS
Chairman, Michigan
Republican Party
Lansing, Mich.

MARK HEMINGWAY RESPONDS: I never said that it was Saul Anuzis's goal alone to close the Michigan Republican presidential primary. Indeed, I noted that there were a number of high-profile Republicans in the state who were unhappy with the outcome of the 2000 Republican primary.

Further, I also stressed that these rules are only tentatively agreed to by the GOP's state committee. Passage of new primary rules by the legislature is not by any means a slam-dunk, nor will the new rules mean that Michigan has a "closed" primary.

As for my description of Anuzis as a former partner of the Sterling Corporation, I apologize for the error.

It is the case, however, that Anuzis has a history of working relationships with the partners in the Sterling Corporation. Indeed, Anuzis has hired a number of employees of the Sterling Corporation to work for the state GOP, including for the top two positions-Jeff Timmer as executive director and Anne Marie Lindley as finance director.

In late April, a Michigan Senate candidate, Jerry Zandstra, called for Anuzis's resignation. Zandstra alleged that Anuzis broke a promise to remain neutral in the Senate race by supporting his opponent, Mike Bouchard. Bouchard happens to be a client of the Sterling Corporation. Finally, a quick perusal of financial disclosure forms at the Michigan Bureau of Elections shows that since Anuzis took over as chairman the state GOP has compensated the Sterling Corporation on a level far beyond any other Michigan-based political consulting group.

HAPPY FEW

QUOTING ONE of the most famous speeches in the English language, Michael Fumento's "The New Band of Brothers" (June 19) incorrectly states that Shakespeare, in Henry V, was specifically describing the English soldiers "celebrating a devastating and historic defeat of the French at Agincourt." The English were outnumbered by as much as five to one and did deliver a crushing defeat to the French, but the speech was given by Henry V before the battle. How much more powerful the speech is when we realize that it was given when Henry was facing the possibility of losing the battle and his army.

BEN BROWN
Lehigh Acres, Fla.