On this week's Talking Michigan Politics Podcast, Matt McLogan -- GVSU vice president of university relations -- joins Press editors Jeff Cranson and Ed Golder to discuss:
1. Post-partisanship, a fading ideal. President Obama draws harsh criticism after a meeting with GOP senators Tuesday -- one of whom says the president used them as "props."
And a poll: "Anti-incumbent sentiment is as strong as it was in 1994, when the GOP swept the Democrats from power on Capitol Hill, but according to a new national poll, Americans may not be desperate for change in Congress.
A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday indicates that 47 percent of the public is more likely to vote for a challenger rather than an incumbent running for re-election at the federal, statewide, or local level, with 30 percent saying they are more likely to back the incumbent."
2. Governor's race The debate that wasn't. Speculation remains that U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra maintains a lead in the GOP primary but Attorney General Mike Cox and Ann Arbor venture capitalist Rick Snyder are gaining ground. Will any political leaders muster the courage to make changes?
3. Congressional races in West Michigan. The 2nd and 3rd districts feature large fields of candidates seeking the GOP nomination. In the 2nd district, which stretches from Allegan County north to Benzie, Field Reichardt, a self-proclaimed Gerald Ford-Bill Milliken Republican is banking on the conservatives fighting for the base and leaving him centrist Republican voters in the district.
The question: How many centrists live in the 2nd District, where the most populous county has voted reliably Republican since the beginning of time? In the Grand Rapids-based 3rd, five Republicans are battling for the nomination, and a debate Monday featured few fireworks.
4. People quitting Facebook. Are you next?
Conversation starters:
• Rand Paul makes it clear he is not named for Ayn Rand, though he's a great admirer.
• Ed on why Washington, D.C., is a recession-free zone. The USA Today article says that private paychecks have shrunk to their smallest share of personal income in the country's history. Public pay, meanwhile, is on the rise, dramatically so. The case for creeping socialism, or an effective stimulus?
• Jeff on a New Yorker column explaining how an election in Germany makes our markets roil, and how uncertainly among policy makers will make investors nauseous for many days to come...
• Matt on some Republicans pushing a Constitutional Convention in Michigan.
