Political News and Commentary with the Right Perspective. NAVIGATION
  • Front Page
  • News
  • Multimedia
  • Tags
  • RSS Feed


  • Advertise on RightMichigan.com


    NEWS TIPS!

    Get the RightMighigan.com toolbar!


    RightMichigan.com

    Buzz

    Who are the NERD fund donors Mr Snyder?

    Raise the curtain.

    "Moderate" Snyder embroiled in false endorsement controversy


    By Nick, Section News
    Posted on Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 03:57:52 PM EST
    Tags: Snyder, endorsement, Paul Scott, Governor, 2010, Michigan Republican Party (all tags)

    In an email sent yesterday to Republican activists across the state, self described "moderate" Rick Snyder claims former state House candidate Dan Tollis and twenty-five other state GOP "leaders" believe he is exactly the candidate the Party needs to win the Governor's office in 2010.

    The endorsement list includes the names of well known Party leaders, former legislators, current state Representative Paul Scott, Snyder campaign staff and a handful of paid staffers from the Michigan Republican Party.  

    The only problem?  Tollis and others reached today by RightMichigan claim they never endorsed Snyder and are angry their names are being used to promote his campaign.

    "I'm agitated," Tollis told RightMichigan.  "I am not endorsing anybody right now.  (Last weekend) I spent more time talking to Tom George than Rick Snyder.  Frankly, I'm disappointed in Snyder.  You've got to have a little more integrity than that."

    Tollis claims he's received fifteen phone calls in the last day from puzzled friends and associates who received the Snyder email claiming his endorsement.

    Last weekend the Michigan Republican State Committee held a regular meeting in Battle Creek.  According to several attendees Snyder and an entourage of campaign staffers joined committee members at a social function following the conclusion of business and actively circulated clipboards with forms which asked for names and email addresses.

    14th District State Committee member Darlyn Vigh met Snyder and was asked by one of his staff members to sign a form.  "I know nothing about the man.  (The form) was to get our information for contacts," said Vigh.  "I asked at the time if this was an endorsement and they said "no.""

    She was surprised several days later to read an email from Rick Snyder himself apparently claiming she'd endorsed him.  

    "Yes, it did look like an endorsement," Vigh continued.  "Most people are going to take it as an endorsement.  I never said he was a good candidate.  That is deceiving!"

    Jim Duistermars, a longtime State Committee member from the 9th Congressional District expressed confusion at the inclusion of his name as well. "I don't know why they would do that," he said.

    The announcement of allegedly false endorsements obtained from Michigan Republican Party staff members Larry Ward, former Representative Tom Casperson and three MRP interns prompted the state Party to issue the following statement:

    "The Michigan Republican Party and members of its full-time staff, have not and will not endorse candidates in the August 2010 Primary Election for Michigan's Governor.  We regret any misunderstanding that led to the publication of Mr. Tom Casperson or Mr. Larry Ward's support for a specific candidate.  Michigan Republicans stand united and ready for the energetic battle of ideas we are blessed with, unlike our opposition."

    The names of State Representative Paul Scott and legislative staffer Kristin Fair also appear on the Snyder "endorsement list" but according to both, they've yet to throw their weight behind a candidate and did not intend to do so last weekend.

    "If I endorse someone I'll send out a press release about it," said Scott.

    Others were less magnanimous.  

    "When are we going to learn as Republicans we need to be straight up?" asked Tollis.

    < ABC Healthcare Infomercial Protest-Rally | Contact Your Representative: Stop Cap And Trade >


    Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit


    Display: Sort:
    Sleazy Snyder (none / 0) (#1)
    by DMOnline on Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 04:06:58 PM EST
    Very sleazy.  Mr. Snyder's political future is about as bright as SC Guv Sanford's right about now.

    DCuz
    www.RightCuz.com



    "the candidate the Party needs to win" (none / 0) (#3)
    by geek49203 on Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 04:16:59 PM EST
    When did the talking points go out that "going moderate" was the way for GOP people to win?  More importantly, who put them out, and why?

    I don't see a national outcry for the next McCain, or Hegal, or Lugar, or Rockefeller.  I don't see people longing for the glory days of the Ford administration. I certainly don't see the Romney campaign for 2012 picking up steam.  

    On the State level -- whether it's for that vacant Schauer Senate seat, or in the Governor's mansion, I scarcely think that the state wants a watered-down edition of Blanchard or Granholm.  

    At any rate, where did this idea of "moderates win" come from?  

    Hmm.... (none / 0) (#4)
    by Republican2679 on Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 04:33:31 PM EST
    Yikes! Talk about your average unwanted PR crises.  Hey I heard a while ago that Rick Snyder was a supporter of the embryonic stem cell initiative last year.  Does anyone know of any resources that show what kind of dollars he donated to this initiative?  And does anyone know what issues Snyder is a "moderate" on?  Just out of curiosity.

    Moderates can go . . . (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by Kevin Rex Heine on Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 04:42:30 PM EST
    . . . to hell.  And I say that with all due gravity.

    Because he's now truly home, we don't at our disposal someone many say that we could surely use right now.  Instead, we should be using him as a template against which others who aspire to his mantle ought to be measured.

    No one will be Ronald Wilson Reagan, but there are those out there who can do what he did just as effectively as he himself did it.  There are those who know what true leadership is, because they themselves practice it.  There are those who unapologetically believe in the greatness of America, and unashamedly say so regardless of their audience.  There are those who refuse to yield one inch in the defense and preservation of liberty.

    You find someone with executive experience and a pair of cojones who is all of these other things as well, and you'll find someone capable of delivering this speech:



    Just out of curiosity? (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by KG One on Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 05:23:59 PM EST
    Any word from the Snyder people about their little "oops"?

    This Reminds me of his interview with Zandstra (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by Republican Michigander on Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 08:00:34 PM EST
    He talks about not being a professional politician and is worse then even most pols when it comes to giving a straight answer. What a crock. He may have interviewed with Zandstra awhile back, but he's the opposite of Zandstra (who I supported in 06) in his answers.

    I'm less and less impressed by Snyder as time goes on here.

    Strike 1 - Gateway computers. I had a bad one in 97, his time there.

    Strike 2 - Prop 2

    Foul Ball - Part of Phil Power's "Center for Michigan", an economic pro-tax and pro-con-con organization.

    Strike 3 - This

    Strike 3 - Yer Out!!!

    Encouragement (none / 0) (#12)
    by JimDuistermars on Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 09:52:52 PM EST
    As of now, I have not yet decided which candidate to endorse for the Michigan's gubernatorial race.  However, during the time preceding an endorsement, party leaders often encourage -- or urge -- many candidates to run for a variety of offices.  Encouraging a candidate to run is like one standing in the crowd watching a parade and only waving to the candidates that greatly impress him.  An endorsement is when one marches in the parade with his chosen candidate.  Right now, I'm not marching with any particular gubernatorial candidate.  Even though Mr. Snyder has not yet even officially announced his campaign; I signed a petition urging Mr. Snyder to stay in the race because he will bring to the forefront issues that could make him a solid candidate.  

    I can understand that the e-mail announcement/press release from Mr. Snyder's campaign would confuse many, especially to those uninitiated to campaign strategy.  Also, Mr. Snyder's should have made more understandable that those who signed Mr. Snyder's statement were expressions of encouragement and not expressions of endorsement.

    Jim Duistermars
    The longtime State Committee member from the 9th Congressional District

    Prime time? (none / 0) (#14)
    by conservativefox on Thu Jun 25, 2009 at 10:59:08 AM EST
    It's obvious that Rick Snyder is not ready for prime time, pure amateur-hour.  I've seen this trick before for state rep races, try to dupe people into supporting a candidate then "spin" it to the press that the grassroots are rallying around a pro-choice, pro-tax, pro-gun control candidate.

    Snyder doesn't represent our party he represents Sen. Specter's party... wait, Speceter's a Dem.

    My take (none / 0) (#15)
    by dsheill on Thu Jun 25, 2009 at 02:05:38 PM EST
    A lot of those names listed in the e-mail are people traditionally association with the Yob camp so maybe the Yobs took for granted that their friends weren't on board with their candidate yet. But Snyder is far from unique here. This has gone on forever. Just last year Ron Weiser issued a similar website listing supporters much longer for state chairman, which included Leon Drolet. So my friends and I asked Leon if he did endorse Weiser and Leon told me that he knew nothing about it, nor was he ever approached by Weiser people about an endorsement.

    "the candidate the Party needs to win" (none / 0) (#16)
    by dsheill on Thu Jun 25, 2009 at 02:17:35 PM EST
    In response to the comment above...you take a shot at Hegal and Lugar for being liberal. What about GW Bush. This is what I don't get about how you people define RINO. As long as a candidate has an "R" besides their name and is endorsed by Right to Life, it seems as though you'll never accuse them of being a RINO. But being tough on terrorism and socially conservative doesn't make someone a Reagan Republican. By their voting records, both Candice Miller and Thad McCotter are both tough on teror and very pro-life. But both have some of the WORST voting records on trade and fiscal issues that the Club for Growth has ever seen. McCotter for example supported Card Check as S-Chip. So if you're going to back McCain, and these other "moderates," then let's call everyone out!

    As for Snyder, I will say that Nick was right all along. Now that he's finally talking about some issues, he's shown his true colors. A friend of mine said he opposed MCRI in a speech to the Macomb YRs. He's bitching about the governor cutting the "Michigan Promise" scholarship, which is nothing more than middle class welfare payments for college tuition. And finally, he told me personally that he thinks the Michigan Economic Development Corporation is a good idea, "if run correctly." No one issue makes you a RINO, that's why I get so pissed when we label someone a RINO singularly on their position on abortion. However, the "totality of the circumstances" here clearly weighs in favor of concluding that Snyder is a total RINO.

    pardon my crappy grammer (none / 0) (#17)
    by dsheill on Thu Jun 25, 2009 at 02:19:15 PM EST
    I meant to say "if you're going to bash McCain," not back McCain.

    Great Reporting (none / 0) (#19)
    by narphinugan on Thu Jun 25, 2009 at 05:03:16 PM EST
    Great reporting Nick.

    Reminder... (none / 0) (#20)
    by Corinthian Scales on Thu Jul 04, 2013 at 06:13:53 PM EST
    Dumb enough to vote for this again?

    Display: Sort:

    Login

    Make a new account

    Username:
    Password:
    Tweet along with RightMichigan by
    following us on Twitter HERE!
    create account | faq | search