The election results are in and Americans are now looking at our country’s future.
To better understand what last night’s results mean for Michigan, Cyndy spoke with Rick Pluta, the Lansing Bureau Chief for the Michigan Public Radio Network and Bill Ballenger, Editor and Publisher of Inside Michigan Politics.
Ballenger began by addressing the automotive bailout’s effect on Romney and his Michigan campaign. According to Ballenger, his position on the bailout was only part of the reason he failed to win the state.
“That was part of it, but the Republicans have not won a presidential contest since 1988 in Michigan. Romney’s inability to put his New York Times editorial to rest really caused him problems,” said Ballenger.
“Mitt Romney’s position on the automotive rescue was analogous to John Kerry’s position on the Iraq War. Republicans overestimated the power of the Romney name in a race here. They thought Romney would be seen as a hometown guy but that turned out not be the case,” said Pluta.
That Debbie Stabenow defeated challenger Pete Hoekstra was not a total surprise to either Pluta or Ballenger. Her campaign techniques were one of the reasons they listed.
“Debbie Stabenow is an amazing campaigner. Pete Hoekstra never really recovered from his first blunder, the Super Bowl ad that was widely panned,” said Pluta.
Congressional races took place in the First, Third and 11th Districts.
“The First Congressional District was the only race that should have been close, and it was. The incumbent Republican Dan Benishek held on by a narrow margin. In the Third District, Justin Amash - the district that is the second most Republican district in the entire state - Amash won by about nine percent. Then Bentivolio won by about seven percent. So the delegation is going to be 9:5 Republican,” said Ballenger.
“Michigan Democrats were very frustrated that the National Party didn’t put more money into the 11th District race,” said Pluta.
When it came to the State House, there were no big surprises.
“What we saw was an affirmation of the status-quo. Democrats really targeted the Speaker and made it a race about Jase Bolger and they came close,” said Pluta.
Proposals 2-6 were voted down with staggering emphasis.
“It proves the rule that money doesn’t necessarily buy everything. These proposals didn’t just lose, they got killed,” said Ballenger.
-Cameron Stewart
