Michigan

Trump will struggle to win Michigan again.

Child marriage is alive and well among the Yemeni-Americans in Dearborn, but education may finally erode that social norm.

Congressman John Conyers of Michigan announced Tuesday he would retire from Congress effective immediately, making him the first sitting congressman to resign amid the wave of sexual misconduct allegations that has swamped the nation in recent months.

ArtPrize is a queer sort of gallery show. There is no gallery, for one thing. Nor is there any particular curator. Instead, there is an urban core with a big pot of prize money in the middle of it.

Some of Kid Rock’s best-known work is mashups of genres and past hits. He made a fortune fusing rap and metal. He created a worldwide chartbuster mixing “Werewolves of London” with “Sweet Home Alabama.” Now he’s sewing a political image cut from the theatrics of Idiocracy’s President Camacho and…

When I read that the University of Michigan was hiring a “Bias Incident Prevention and Response Coordinator” for the purpose of “[enacting] cultural appropriation prevention initiatives,” I wrote a letter to university president Mark Schlissel, which I pretty well knew was unlikely to reach his…

The latest threat to the American workforce has arrived, and it’s on four hooves.

The latest threat to the American workforce has arrived, and it’s on four hooves.

"Voting machines in more than one-third of all Detroit precincts registered more votes than they should have during last month's presidential election, according to Wayne County records prepared at the request of The Detroit News," according to a report today in the Detroit newspaper. "Detailed…

A U.S. district judge denied a motion to halt a recount of Wisconsin ballots cast in the presidential election Friday, while similar legal action is pending Pennsylvania and Michigan's re-tabulation was stopped this week.

Vote totals in states where former presidential candidate Jill Stein and the Green party have requested recounts hadn't budged much as of Tuesday morning, the Associated Press reports, with the process in Michigan still in its nascent staged amid a flurry of court action.

You have to figure out, after a tough loss, how you are going to handle it. It has to hurt, but it is probably better if you don't let it show and, instead, heed these lines from Yeats:

You have to figure out, after a tough loss, how you are going to handle it. It has to hurt, but it is probably better if you don’t let it show and, instead, heed these lines from Yeats:

Have a question for Matt Labash? Ask him at askmattlabash@gmail.com or click here.

President-elect Donald Trump's narrow victory of just more than 10,000 votes in Michigan was certified by the state's Board of Canvassers on Monday, officially making him the first Republican White House hopeful to win there since former President George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Detroit

Donald Trump owes his victory in the Electoral College to three states he won by the smallest number of votes: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. So it's fair to say that the 2016 presidential election was decided by about 77,000 votes out of than 136 million ballots cast. According to the…

In an economic address delivered in Michigan this week, Hillary Clinton tore into Donald Trump. No surprise there, of course. But what is notable is precisely what Clinton excoriated her Republican opponent for: Per Hillary, Trump is just too darn negative about the current state of the country.

In 1989, a small videogame company called Maxis released SimCity, a city-building simulation, inaugurating what would become one of the best-selling computer game series of all time. SimCity's aim was straightforward: As "mayor," the player was challenged with designing and managing a metropolis.…

The Detroit Free Press is reporting:

The hot new word on campuses is “triggering.” The current generation of special snowflakes wants to be excused from discussing violence and other terrible facts of life, lest such discussions “trigger” a recollection of their own personal traumas (real or imagined is anyone’s guess).

Not a lot of good news coming out of Michigan these last few years.  Detroit went broke, people left the state for Texas and other places where they could find jobs, and the University of Michigan football team could not seem to beat Ohio State.

Utica, Mich.

A TV ad from a new super PAC targets Democratic congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Gary Peters of Michigan. The 30-second ad's voiceover says that "for the last six years, we've had a president and a Senate who's divided us and fumbled foreign policy, leading from behind." The ad shows images of…

Two GOP Senate candidates in blue states are running new TV advertisementss knocking their Democratic opponents over immigration. In Michigan, Republican Terri Lynn Land's campaign has released an ad knocking Democratic congressman Gary Peters for "flip-flopping" on border enforcement and being…

The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with editor William Kristol on the Tuesday GOP primaries. 

Detroit

A Democratic super PAC affiliated with Senate majority leader Harry Reid has an ad accusing a female Senate candidate of being "backwards" on women's issues. The 30-second spot from Senate Majority PAC targets Terri Lynn Land, the likely GOP Senate candidate from MIchigan.

"As Justice Harlan observed over a century ago, ‘our Constitution is colorblind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.’ .  .  . The people of Michigan wish the same for their governing charter. It would be shameful for us to stand in their way.”

Michigan Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land has a new 30-second ad out taking on the Democratic line that Republicans like her are waging a "war on women." Land is facing Democratic congressman Gary Peters in November, and Peters has criticized Land's opposition to the so-called Paycheck Fairness Act.

The city that President Obama was credited with “saving” – before it turned out that he hadn’t – is getting a little help from Washington as it struggles through the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history.

A new ad from a Republican primary challenger to Michigan congressman Justin Amash notes he has voted for bills supported by Barack Obama more than any other Republican in Congress. Brian Ellis, a businessman from Grand Rapids, released the 30-second ad on Tuesday.

Representative Kerry Bentivolio once said, “I have a problem figuring out which one I really am, Santa Claus or Kerry Bentivolio. All my life I have been told I’m Kerry Bentivolio, and now I am a Santa Claus, so now I prefer to be Santa Claus.” Bentivolio, a 62-year-old freshman Republican from…

In Washington, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose—it’s how long you play the game. Witness the reaction last week to the announcement that Michigan congressman John Dingell would make this, his 29th term in the House of Representatives, his last. The 87-year-old Detroit-area Democrat has been a…

Americans for Prospertiy, a conservative tax-exempt organization, has a new 60-second television ad running in Michigan that criticizes Democratic congressman Gary Peters for his vote and continued support of Obamacare. The ad features Michigan citizen Julie Boonstra, who describes how she was…

A new poll of likely voters in Michigan shows GOP candidates for U.S. Senate and the governorship ahead of their Democratic counterparts. According to the Detroit Free Press, the latest EPIC-MRA poll shows incumbent Republican governor Rick Snyder leading his challenger, Democrat Mark Schauer, 47…

A new poll conducted on behalf of the Conservative Intelligence Briefing shows Michigan Republican Terri Lynn Land leading Democrat Gary Peters in the race for the U.S. Senate among likely voters. Here's more:

"Tables turn on the Michigan tea party”; “Business to tea party: Get out of our way”; “Donors Plot Against GOP Rebel”: Judging by the headlines, next year’s Republican primary in Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District is shaping up as a referendum on the conservative incumbent’s dogged adherence to…

A Michigan school district has cut the hours of 15 employees due to Obamacare, according to a local report:

Hardly an academic semester goes by without a high-profile opportunity arising for the right to address pervasive, perennial anti-conservative animus on the American college campus. And hardly an academic semester goes by without the right, reflexively blinded by righteous indignation, blowing an…

A Grand Rapids, Michigan report on a company that had to lay off over 1,000 people due to the Obamacare medical device tax:

The CBS News headline from last October:

If there are two things The Scrapbook has learned during the past two years, it’s that when the privileges of labor unions are addressed by democratically elected legislatures—usually during harsh economic times—you can be sure that the unions will descend on state capitals with marches, epithets,…

A speaker at a protest against Michigan's right-to-work legislation said that Republican governor Rick Snyder will "get no rest" from pro-union activists if Snyder signs the bill into law.

Senator Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat from Michigan, encouraged folks to "keep fighting!" after her side lost the labor dispute that will now give union members the right-to-work.

Muslim Americans in Michigan, including a local newspaper editor, will be rallying Friday in Dearborn to protest the YouTube film, "Innocence of Muslims" and advocate for blasphemy laws. Here's an image of a poster advertising the rally:

Former congressman Pete Hoekstra has won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, reports the Associated Press.

Of the ten swing states, unemployment dropped in only one--Ohio--in the month of June. And things got worse in 6 of the ten swing states, according to the Wall Street Journal.

With Democrats defending 23 of the 33 Senate seats up for election in November, the opportunities for Republican pickups abound. Although Republicans will play defense in Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada, they will almost certainly make gains in North Dakota and Nebraska. Republicans have good…

James Lileks: "The Toll"

A day after losing the overall vote in the Michigan primary, Rick Santorum’s campaign is arguing that Mitt Romney’s three-point margin of victory ought to be viewed as a tie because of the way the state's delegates are divided.

Speaking after his 3-point loss (41 to 38 percent) to Mitt Romney in Michigan, which will net him between 12 and 15 of the 30 delegates in Romney’s native state, Rick Santorum said: 

After months and months of campaigning, Mitt Romney is finally sounding like a conservative. It took the strong challenge by Rick Santorum in Romney’s home state of Michigan to produce this transformation. But it worked as Romney overcame a double-digit Santorum lead to win yesterday’s Michigan…

Here's the text of Mitt Romney's victory speech tonight, as prepared for delivery:

Derek Thompson: "The Collapse of Print Advertising in 1 Graph"

The Santorum campaign made a last-minute effort to find votes in Michigan with this robocall, which encourages Michigan Democrats to vote for Rick Santorum (and against Mitt Romney) in today’s primary. Michigan’s open primary system means there’s no party registration requirement and voters can…

PPP reports on its latest Michigan poll, released ahead of today's Republican presidential primary:

Through December and January, Mitt Romney was comfortably ahead in polls in his home state of Michigan. Then Rick Santorum surged into the lead after his February 7 victories in Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado. Romney's advertising and surrogate assault on Santorum over the next couple of weeks,…

This morning, Rasmussen released a new poll showing Mitt Romney regaining his lead in the Michigan primary. This afternoon, Romney communications director Gail Gitcho sent out the following email to reporters:

A Rasmussen poll of likely voters in the “four key states” of Ohio, Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina, shows Rick Santorum leading President Obama by 5 percentage points among independents, while Obama leads Mitt Romney by 3 percentage points among that crucial group of voters. The Rasmussen…

The newest poll of Michigan primary voters from Rasmussen Reports shows Mitt Romney regaining the lead in his home state just days before Michigan's presidential primary. Romney leads his closest rival, Rick Santorum, 40 percent to 34 percent, in a survey taken Thursday evening, one day after CNN's…

The latest Michigan poll of the Republican presidential primary from the American Research Group: 

Politico reports: "Rick Santorum’s campaign is airing a negative ad against Mitt Romney in Michigan that wasn’t released to the press, highlighting the former Massachusetts governor’s past positions on abortion, gun rights and more." 

Less than a week before the Michigan primary, the editorial board at the Detroit News has endorsed Mitt Romney, calling him the "best choice" for "leading this nation to prosperity and stability" and saying that he gives "the GOP a fighting chance of defeating President Barack Obama this fall."…

Ron Paul is out with a new TV ad criticizing Rick Santorum. The ad will air in Michigan, where Paul's a distant third place in recent primary polls. Watch the it below:

The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows Rick Santorum leading Mitt Romney by 4 percentage points in Romney’s home state of Michigan.  Santorum now leads Romney by the tally of 38 to 34 percent, while Ron Paul has 10 percent support and Newt Gingrich has 9 percent. 

New York Times: "Peter Gleick Admits to Deception in Obtaining Heartland Climate Files"

Politico: "Worry over Mitt Romney sparks talk of Tampa"

The Detroit News reports on its latest poll of likely Republican voters in Michigan:

Politico reports on Rick Santorum's newest television ad: a light-hearted, humorous spot featuring a Mitt Romney double firing mud in vain at a cardboard cutout of Santorum. The ad, which doesn't rebut any of Romney's (or his super PAC's) criticisms, says that Romney's "negative attack machine"…

Restore Our Future, the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC, has released a new ad that will air in Michigan, Arizona, and Ohio. The ad portrays Santorum as a "big spender" and a "Washington insider," citing his voting record when he represented Pennsylvania in the Senate. Watch the ad below:

Both Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are out today with new television ads for Michigan markets. Romney's ad, titled "Growing Up," is a positive profile that highlights the former Massachusetts governor's Michigan roots and echoes what Romney wrote in his op-ed in the Detroit News about the auto…

The New York Times reports that the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future, is spending almost $500,000 on new television ads in Michigan. The ads will focus on Romney's GOP rival Newt Gingrich, even though Rick Santorum looks to be a bigger threat to Romney in Michigan's February 28…

I wonder if three features of the race as it stands today aren't being a bit neglected:

Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen: "The Hillary Moment"

There are a number of bizarre schemes unions have used to coerce dues out of public funds. For a long time, I thought the most appalling example was a Michigan scheme where the United Auto Workers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees held a sham vote-by-mail…

At 6:51 a.m., the White House sent out an email with the following subject: "Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Backs American Jobs Act." It was odd, not because Snyder is a Republican, but because the governor's statement was not an endorsement of the president's plan at all. 

While the GOP presidential primary race has captured most of the media attention, Republicans are also gearing up for the 33 Senate seats on the ballot next year. Democrats currently hold 23 of those seats, and Republicans will need a net win of at least 4 seats to gain control of the Senate. A…

Two former officials from the Oakland County, Mich. Democratic Party were charged today for forgery and perjury relating to a political scheme hatched in the last election. According to the Detroit Free Press, the officials have been accused of placing Tea Party candidates on ballots without those…

This story got a bit lost in the shuffle yesterday, but unions just suffered a big blow in Michigan. Now that the state is controlled by a Republican governor, they just put a stop to one of the most egregious examples of union overreach in the country.

In a debate yesterday in Michigan, the Republican, the independent, and the Green Party candidate all agreed that Obamacare must go. While the candidates had different thoughts about what Obamacare should be replaced with, they all agreed that it should be repealed, leaving only Democratic…

CQ's Tricia Miller reports on the latest dust-up in the bitter race to replace Bart Stupak: