Michigan-- Senator Kid Rock? I Wouldn't Count On It

Earlier today we looked at the results of the Marist poll for NBC News in Wisconsin. I didn't mean to slight Michigan. Much of the attention the Michigan poll got was because it shows some kind of viability for possible GOP Senate candidate Kid Rock.

NBC News' Carrie Dann asked in a provocative headline whether Kid Rock is popular enough in Michigan to win, referring to him as "the provocative musician who calls himself the 'Pimp of the Nation' and peppers his lyrics and political rhetoric with unprintable language." The poll found Kid Rock's popularity ratings aren't in line with other Michigan political figures. Hasn't that poor state suffered enough?

Shockingly, Trump won Michigan's 16 electoral votes last year-- by a whisker: 2,279,543 (47.5%) to 2,268,839 (46.3%), a margin of 10,704 votes. Like in Wisconsin, Clinton was the wrong candidate. Although Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the corrupt Kings Landing Democratic establishment had rigged the process so that Hillary was able to walk away with 73 convention delegates to Bernie's 65, Bernie beat her statewide by almost 20,000 votes. Primary day totals:

• Bernie- 595,222
• Hillary Clinton- 576,795
• Señor Trumpanzee- 483,751
• Ted Cruz- 330,015

Let's look at 10 key counties that Trump won in the general against Hillary, but that Bernie had won against Clinton. The bolded counties are the ones that had voted for Obama in 2012 and flipped to Trump last year. It's very likely that had Bernie been the candidate in November, he would have beaten Trump, probably substantially.

• Allegan Co.- Bernie- 5,545; Trumpanzee- 5,327
• Bay Co.- Bernie- 6,363; Trumpanzee- 5,738
• Calhoun Co.- Bernie- 5,810; Trumpanzee- 5,800
• Eaton Co.- Bernie- 7,007; Trumpanzee- 5,386
• Grand Traverse Co.- Bernie- 8,091; Trumpanzee- 5,891
• Isabella Co.- Bernie- 4,024; Trumpanzee- 2,180
• Kent Co.- Bernie- 43,375; Trumpanzee- 22,742
• Midland Co.- Bernie- 4,568; Trumpanzee- 3,909
• Ottawa Co.- Bernie- 14,334; Trumpanzee- 11,600
• Shiawassee Co.- Bernie- 4,452; Trumpanzee- 3,864

As far as current favorable/unfavorable numbers among Michigan registered voters:

• Trumpanzee- favorable-34%; unfavorable- 59%
• Debbie Stabenow- favorable- 39%; unfavorable- 32%
• Kid Rock- favorable- 36%; unfavorable- 34%
• Rick Snyder- favorable- 37%; unfavorable- 48%
• Obama- favorable- 63%; unfavorable- 31%
• Bernie- favorable- 58%; unfavorable- 32%
• Democratic Party- favorable 43%; unfavorable- 43%
• Republican Party- favorable 30%; unfavorable- 55%

As far as control of Congress, 48% of Michigan's registered voted would like to see the Democrats in control and just 35% would like to see the Republicans maintain control. The DCCC, as they always do, is busy recruiting and supporting crappy status quo candidates that are unlikely to generate much enthusiasm, like doing everything they can to discourage candidates running on the issues that made Bernie so popular in the state.

Michigan 6th congressional district is still occupied by out-of-touch Republican multimillionaire, a Paul Ryan rubber-stamp, Fred Upton. It's a swingy district that Obama won in 2008 (53-45%) and lost in 2012 (50-49%). Last year Trump beat Hillary there 51.3% to 42.9%. She drastically underperformed Obama. And this is Bernie country. There are 6 counties in the district. Trump beat Hillary in each one except Kalamazoo. But Bernie wiped out Hillary in the primaries there:

• Kalamazoo- Bernie- 20,146; Hillary- 12,593 (Trumpanzee- 8,655)
• Berrien- Bernie- 5,942; Hillary- 6,546 (Trumpanzee- 7,817)
• Allegan- Bernie- 5,545; Hillary- 3,489 (Trumpanzee- 5,327)
• Van Buren- Bernie-3,656; Hillary- 2,484 (Trumpanzee- 3,287)
• St Joseph- Bernie- 2,219; Hillary- 1,382 (Trumpanzee- 2,528)
• Cass- Bernie- 1,683; Hillary- 1,657 (Trumpanzee- 2,859)

The DCCC refused to help Paul Clements last year. In Michigan, they were too busy spending money on reactionary Blue Dogs, all of whom, waiting for Hillary's coattails to sweep them into office, lost. For example, the DCCC + Pelosi's House Majority PAC spent $2,367,918 on worthless Blue Dog Lon Johnson in MI-01. He lost the open seat to Republican John Bergman 201,153 (55.3%) to 144,319 (39.7%). In the 6th, the DCCC refused to spend any money on Paul Clements whatsoever and Pelosi's PAC chipped in a grand total of $10,971. Clements lost to Upton by around the same numbers that Johnson lost to Bergman but who knows what would have happened if the DCCC hadn't wasted their money on the reactionary Blue Dog and spent it on the progressive instead?

Does Pelosi Really Care About Gun Safety Laws-- Or Is She Just Playing Games With Voters, While Recruiting NRA Shills For Congress?

So who do the hypocrites at the DCCC support and who do they oppose?

You probably heard how the Republicans are absolutely shoveling dark money into the congressional races to try to salvage their majorities in the Senate and House. It may be too late for the Senate, but McConnell's SuperPAC will be spending over $2 million per day between now and November 8-- money from odious characters and modern day robber barons like the Kochs, Adelsons, Paul Singer and the crackpot Mercers from Long Island. And all that money is being focused on just 6 states: Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, to save Roy Blunt, Kelly Ayotte, Richard Burr and Pat Toomey-- and to try to drag Todd Young and Joe Heck over the finish line.

And just yesterday the NRCC dumped 16 unimaginative TV attack ads against Jackie Rosen (NV), Joe Garcia (FL), Kim Myers (NY), Stephanie Murphy (FL), Ruben Kihuen (NV), Morgan Carroll (CO), Terri Bonoff (MN), Pete Gallego (TX), Angie Craig (MN), Brad Ashford (NE), Monica Vernon (IA), Colleen Deacon (NY), LuAnn Bennett (VA), Zephyr Teachout (NY), Randy Perkins (FL) and Lon Johnson (MI)-- and that was after dozens of radio ads against Democrats and another batch of TV attack ads in the last week against Steve Santasiero (PA), Ami Bera (CA), Emily Cain (ME), Tom Nelson (WI), and more against Joe Garcia, Morgan Carroll, Monica Vernon, Brad Ashford, Angie Craig, Zephyr Teachout, Lon Johnson, and Martin Babinec (the independent running in the 3-way in NY-22).

Now, true, most of these ads are so juvenile and ineffective that there literally are observers saying that the Democratic candidates and the DCCC should report them to the FEC as in-kind contributions, but the NRCC is counting on spending a load of cash in the next two weeks to brainwash voters with frequency. Even ads this stupid could be effective. (Look at the one they're running against Zephyr Teachout. It's so laughable, it's an insult to the voters in the Hudson Valley and Catskills area of upstate New York.)

Meanwhile, many of the candidates the DCCC is spending most heavily to bolster, particularly Blue Dogs who are far from the Democratic mainstream, are the kinds of candidates progressives and activists are least likely to want to defend. Regardless of how bad the GOP incumbents are-- and they are really a sordid bunch-- who wants to defend Democrats running as NRA heroes against what the vast majority of Americans crave from Congress in terms of gun safety (to pick just one example). The DCCC has dumped a fortune into the campaigns of right-wing NRA-whores Lon Johnson (MI)-- $1,321,129 so far, including $346,634 this week-- and Pete Gallego (TX)-- $2,736,390. Voters-- especially Democrats, but independents and mainstream Republicans as well, want sane gun safety laws. Smart candidates, like Ruben Kihuen (NV) and DuWayne Gregory (NY) are actively campaigning for background checks and passage of a No Fly/No buy law, but the DCCC persists in recruiting and backing right-wing Democrats who stand with the GOP and NRA on their unpopular positions.

And it isn't just the Lon Johnson and Pete Gallego clamoring for NRA love and support. The NRA poster boys for gun-nuttery in California and Florida, respectively Lou Correa and Darren Soto, are also on Pelosi's DCCC's Red to Blue program-- and both in very blue, safe Democratic districts where no one has to pander to the gun nuts if they don't want to. So is the Democratic Party serious about protecting us from gun-crazed lunatics? Or is it just a convenient cudgel to use, opportnistically, against Republicans from time to time? Isn't it time for dishonest career hacks like Pelosi and Hoyer and their leadership team to step down and make way for less jaded Democrats in Congress? The DCCC supports and funds right-wing garbage candidates like Lon Johnson, Darren Soro, Lou Correa and Pete Gallego but disgusting racist slob Steve Israel has prohibited the DCCC from backing DuWayne Gregory who's is in a winnable race in a suburban Long Island district that is all in for Hillary and against Trump. We at Blue America are doing our best... but we don't have the tens of millions of dollars the DCCC and Pelosi are wasting on Blue Dogs and New Dems who are part of the problem, not part of the solution. Please consider chipping in what you can-- directly to the candidates' Get Out the Vote efforts-- by tapping the thermometer on the right.

Lon Johnson-- And The Art Of Writing Off A Congressional District

Lon and Juliana-- unlikely to take up residence in Marquette

by Cheboygan Charlie

By reviewing Michigan’s Democratic politics over the last three years, one thinks he or she is reading the screenplay to a soap opera, or a comedic soap opera, aka a sitcom. Wrong. A thorough review of recent Michigan Democratic Party political history is a narrative that could serve as the epitome of the problems with our current Democratic Party. Let’s start in 2012.

Lon Johnson, a failed Democratic political operative has come home to his native Michigan, leaving behind years of failures at organizations such as the DSCC and the DNC. He desperately wanted to be someone in this world. He thought that running for the State House of Representatives would be his pathway to stardom. Upon returning to Michigan, Lon went to his hometown, just south of Detroit. He was disappointed: All of the local districts were taken. What was he to do? Run for sherriff? Run for dog catcher? Tax collector? Postmaster?...

No, Lon quickly remembered that his family owned a fishing shack in the Northern Michigan county of Kalkaska. So he took out his handy State House district map, and noticed there was an R+8 seat held by a weak one-term Republican in the district in which his family owned a piece of property smaller than a chipmunk’s bedroom. Perfect, he thought.

Lon, having spent years alongside decently astute Beltway operatives, understood that it would take an unusual amount of money to pull off this victory. He never could raise this amount of cash in the district, as Northern Michigan is known to be extremely poor, desolate, and bleak: a place no one in their right mind would ever venture to.

Then he remembered that he had recently gotten married to one of the President’s senior political operatives, Julianna Smoot, who is one of the canniest and most successful fund-raisers in politics. He almost forgot that he was married to Julianna, as Julianna quickly moved to Chicago after marrying Lon 400 miles away in Michigan. So Lon got his wife’s blessing. More importantly, he got her promise that she would leverage her national financial connections, banksters such as Jamie Dimon and Robert Wolf, to fund her husband’s longshot bid in the middle of nowhere.

Long story slightly shorter, the people of Northern Michigan were not nearly as clueless and out of touch as Lon had hoped. People quickly began wondering what in the world this out-of-towner was doing in their district, let alone trying to represent them.

Lon misunderstood one of the most valuable rules in running for office: Understand your voters. But you can’t blame him, as this is one of the many things the Democratic Party forgets constantly and systemically. It's what they believe in.

Lon raked in money from ridiculous corners of the political money map. Bankers, financiers, hedge funders, Hollywood execs, even David Axelrod all gave to Lon Johnson. After all, he was Julianna Smoot’s husband. Lon lost, handily, and began drinking heavily, from what I’m told. After a few months of drinking and moose-hunting, he wanted back at it. The only question was, what exactly was it he wanted?

He deemed longtime State Party Chairman Mark Brewer as the perfect target. Now, even though Mark had some bad cycles, they were arguably not his fault; rank-and-file delegates in the party praised him for his unique intelligence and good faith. Lon, again taking the people for granted, began campaigning. No one bought it! After about a month on the trail, it was clear by a simple delegate count that he was screwed.

From what we here at DWT have heard from sources in Detroit, Lon was literally crying, not knowing what to do. Julianna, coming off her big Obama win and not wanting to see Lon weeping all the time, knew she had some leverage, and began pulling strings. Soon enough, the UAW took orders from DC and threw their support behind Lon. In Michigan Democratic politics, auto workers still have clout, and apparently had  enough to turn the election.

Lon became the party chairman, promising to lead the party to victory in 2014. (Please note that Mark Brewer dropped out of the race, so disgusted with what his party had become.) Again, long story short, the party lost almost every race. Lon listened to his bonehead loser friends in DC who said to clear every primary for the more conservative, Republican-light Democrat to run in. For example, Lon worked closely with Steve Israel to recruit gun-loving Guantanamo Bay brain child Sheriff Jerry Cannon to run in the northern-most congressional district: MI-1.

Because this race was so close in 2012, the DCCC intended to win this seat in 2014 by recruiting a Republican to run as a Democrat. Obviously, we know what usually happens in those scenarios.

However, Lon went even further than the DCCC in screwing up this situation. Lon, so certain that Jerry Cannon would be the next Bart Stupak, regularly drove up to Northern Michigan (remember, his family has a shack there) to hunt, fish, and drink with Sheriff Jerry. He wanted Jerry to work harder than ever, so Lon would blow smoke at him by saying how he was a future presidential candidate, etc.

After a year of failures on the campaign trail, it was clear none of Lon’s recruits had a shot, Jerry included, and the party pulled out of races north, south, east, and west. Jerry Cannon, still campaigning away up in the tundra of Marquette, Bessemer, Traverse City, Cheboygan, Petoskey, etc., was so heartbroken by Lon that he spent the last month of the campaign in his back yard, chopping wood and drinking beer.

However, in the midst of these failures Lon learned a slick lesson from his intelligent wife: Use your position to build a fund-raising list. Lon, while being paid by dues-paying Democrats, took the Democratic Party’s fund-raising list, which of course he did not build, and did the unthinkable: declared for Congress... in Michigan 1!!!

Lon thought he had successfully pulled a fast one. He had a feeling this would be a tough race in 2016, and now that he had stolen a fund-raising list, he was the man for the job. Only one problem: Sheriff Jerry sobered up and stopped chopping wood.

So now, the week when incumbent Republican nutjob Congressman Dan Benishek announces his retirement, priming this seat for a possible Democratic pickup, two right-wing Democratic hacks-- one-term party chair and perennial loser Lon Johnson and his hand-picked 2014 recruit Sheriff Jerry Cannon-- will have to spend down to zero in a primary, leaving one of them to go into the general election as  a broke, depleted nothing of a candidate.

For all his faults and the social backwardness he stood for, at least Bart Stupak was an economic populist. I never thought we'd wish he was back. But not some guy from Detroit who stands looking at himself in the mirror as he dresses up like him!


UPDATE: Mackinac Island In The News

Mackinac Island is part of MI-01. They hold an annual straw poll of Republican fat cats and activists. Tonight was the night. There were 785 people voting of the 2,200 in attendance. Rand Paul, who won last year, also won this year. He, Fiorina, Kasich, Cruz and Jeb were the featured speakers. And the scores were:

• Rand Paul- 22%
• Fiorina- 15%
• Kasich- 14%
• Cruz- 13%
• Jeb- 9%
• Rubio- 8.4%
• Trumpy- 6.8%
• Carson- 5.5%
• Walker- 2.6%

Everyone else scored under 1%.