Should Detroit vote for Rick Snyder?

[iheartthed]

Rick Snyder has apparently pulled ahead in the Republican primary. Of the gubernatorial Republican primary candidates Snyder seems like he is the most committed to urban issues, maybe even more committed than some of the Democratic candidates. He has stated an actual commitment to existing infrastructure investment, mass transit and has cited revitalizing Detroit as a method to spur the economy.

So is Snyder the best gubernatorial candidate to revitalize Detroit?

[[I know there is already a thread about the governor's race, but that question was a little more generic than mine. I won't object though if the moderator feels that it should be consolidated with the other thread...)

[Detroitnerd]

I heard him on the radio today. Sort of sounded like the kind of consultant who sounds refreshing when he comes into your workplace, until you realize all that jargon means: "You're fired, and we're taking your pension." My 2 cents.

[Crumbled_pavement]

Detroit will never vote for any man, woman, or child with an "R" behind their name. That being said, I think Snyder might make a good governor.

[eno]

Excuse me, but didn't we recently experience the compassion of the Republican Party when they refused to extend unemployment benefits. Why would you think that Rick Snyder would serve the interests of anyone other than the monied classes.

[daddeeo]

Instead of a nerd, he looks like a dork.

[Focus313]

He doesn't support the Michigan film incentives. That directly effects me and my way of making a living. I will be voting for someone else.

[ferntruth]

He doesn't support the Michigan film incentives. That directly effects me and my way of making a living. I will be voting for someone else.

Well, considering that the film incentives actually cost the state money, I don't support them either.
Maybe Snyder is worth a second look.....

[jtf1972]

Excuse me, but didn't we recently experience the compassion of the Republican Party when they refused to extend unemployment benefits. Why would you think that Rick Snyder would serve the interests of anyone other than the monied classes.

Maybe we should vote for candidates based on how they themselves stand/vote on issues rather than how the most of the arseholes that are associated with merely by political party vote. It may help to change over some of the bastards who need to find new careers.

[Traveller1]

Detroit will never vote for any man, woman, or child with an "R" behind their name. That being said, I think Snyder might make a good governor.

Though Snyder may have an "R" behind his name he has many democratic values, urban issues is the big one, Rick has said in almost every interview that I have seen him in that he is going to support regional transportation and the rebuilding of Detroit. While the "rebuilding" of Detroit is not an overnight issue, he is the only candidate, both on the Republican and Democratic side that has addressed Detroit's issues.

Rick is also the only candidate, Republican or Democrat, that has expressed concerns for our environment. I would have thought that a Democratic candidate of all people would have addressed this issue but they haven't. With that being said, I'm sure that Rick would also be a big supporter of urban farming.

I think that Rick Snyder would make a good governor for Detroit and Michigan. He seems very opptimistic even though Michigan has so many issues right now that seen impossible to fix. If you've noticed, Rick is the only candidate so far, excluding Tom George, that hasn't put out an attack ad. How many attacks ads have you seen Mike Cox put out so far?? That kind of political play truly disgusts me.

[English]

Though Snyder may have an "R" behind his name he has many democratic values, urban issues is the big one, Rick has said in almost every interview that I have seen him in that he is going to support regional transportation and the rebuilding of Detroit. While the "rebuilding" of Detroit is not an overnight issue, he is the only candidate, both on the Republican and Democratic side that has addressed Detroit's issues.

Rick is also the only candidate, Republican or Democrat, that has expressed concerns for our environment. I would have thought that a Democratic candidate of all people would have addressed this issue but they haven't. With that being said, I'm sure that Rick would also be a big supporter of urban farming.

I think that Rick Snyder would make a good governor for Detroit and Michigan. He seems very opptimistic even though Michigan has so many issues right now that seen impossible to fix. If you've noticed, Rick is the only candidate so far, excluding Tom George, that hasn't put out an attack ad. How many attacks ads have you seen Mike Cox put out so far?? That kind of political play truly disgusts me.

This is my assessment of Snyder too. I like the way he's taking the high road. The Republican base thinks he's a RINO, though, and he's polling well because of independents and crossover Dems. I'm wondering how well he'd work with Bing and the state legislature, and whether education would be a priority for him.

[Whitehouse]

I'm no American..... but I don't trust Republicans. Try to find out who his sponsors are. Than you know where his allegiance lies. [[This may also apply to any Democrat....)

Instead of a nerd, he looks like a dork.

[Stosh]

http://www.followthemoney.org/databa...html?uc=139374

[gazhekwe]

Hmm. I thought he sounded pretty good today on Detroit Today.

[Det_ard]

My biggest concern with Snyder is that he's a political rookie. He'll be at a disadvantage going up against more experienced players [[R or D) in the legislature. Putting aside their political ideologies because it's not relevant to this point, it's clear that the very-experienced legislator Engler was a master at shepherding his agenda through the legislature, while Granholm's complete lack of legislative experience was evident in her inability to get things done. At a time when Michigan needs a strong and effective leader more than ever, I have concerns about Synder's ability to actually push his agenda through the legislature. There's no indication that he has the political street smarts needed to effect significant change. Maybe he'd prove to be a political natural and surprise me, but I wouldn't count on it.

As for who's best for Detroit, Detroit needs such radical change that IMO the best Governor for Detroit is the one who'll have the balls to put an Emergency Financial Manager in place when required. That's probably a Republican since they have less to lose by pissing off the grape-throwers that would never vote "R" anyways.

The other way major way Detroit benefits is if Michigan's economy recovers. There's a spillover effect that clearly helped Detroit's improvement in the 90's and early 00's when the state and national economy were doing well. So rather than look at which candidate is promising which Detroit-targeted government programs [[likely just campaign BS anyway), I'd try to determine which candidate will be best for business in Michigan.

So, who's the right choice for Detroit? Based on my criteria, a pro-business, Republican with legislative experience. Guess who that is?

[BagAJellyDonuts]

Well Detroit has been known to vote for Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick & John Conyers.

No need to continue the list of choices made.

[Stosh]

If they don't play ball with Snyder, he'll zap them with his ray gun. Or crash their hard drives. He has that capability...

[Lowell]

"My biggest concern with Snyder is that he's a political rookie. He'll be at a disadvantage going up against more experienced players [[R or D) in the legislature."

There really aren't experiences players anymore, due to term limits. One third of every new legislature's body are rookies and as soon as they get their feet wet they are gone. Term limits need to be doubled, maybe tripled. The current situation is too unstable.

No matter who wins this structural fault will hamper long term vision.

[Det_ard]

"My biggest concern with Snyder is that he's a political rookie. He'll be at a disadvantage going up against more experienced players [[R or D) in the legislature."

There really aren't experiences players anymore, due to term limits. One third of every new legislature's body are rookies and as soon as they get their feet wet they are gone. Term limits need to be doubled, maybe tripled. The current situation is too unstable.

No matter who wins this structural fault will hamper long term vision.

Agreed on the negative effect our term limit law has on lawmakers' expertise and know-how, but Snyder has NO political experience. Other legislators have several years experience in the state house/senate plus county/local government experience. One thing's for sure, Synder will at best be tied for least-experienced politician in any meeting he's in.

[BrushStart]

Yeah, everyone thinks term limits are great because they hate career politicians and all the entitlements/special favors/corrurption/bulls**t, but people who are kicked out after only 6 or 8 years have no incentive to do things that actually benefit the state because their political career will end by default. Therefore, everyone just trys to gun up their reputations so they can get an appointment or run for higher office. Worse yet, some spend their whole time in office working on pet projects that will fund some business venture they have planned for when their ousted. That, my good sirs, is called an EPIC FAIL.

[65memories]

I thought the endorsement of William Milliken, whose political attributes have made him a maverick and outsider in the Republican party, would be the kiss of death for Snyder. So I was surprised to find out Snyder was the front-runner in the latest Freep poll. Surprised also at Bernero's surge. Getting interesting just before primary. Snyder vs. Bernero...although I don't really think it will happen, that would be an interesting race.

[Bobl]

quote: "...There really aren't experiences players anymore, due to term limits. One third of every new legislature's body are rookies and as soon as they get their feet wet they are gone. Term limits need to be doubled, maybe tripled. The current situation is too unstable..."

In a clean voting system, term limits are built in. Those who do a poor job will be replaced, by the voters.
Real campaign finance reform is needed.

[boogiechillen]

Rick Snyder would definitely be the best case Republican scenario, as far as Detroit is concerned. Bernero would probably be the best Democrat, as he is the mayor of Michigan's fifth largest city. Though "Lansing" is often viewed to be at odds with urban interests [[particularly those of Detroit), the Lansing being referred to is the state legislature, not the city government. In fact, Lansing is an example of something that Detroit wants to become: a formerly auto-dependent town that has diversified it's economy. I think either of these candidates would be good for Detroit, and any others would be detrimental, especially Hoekstra, Cox or Bouchard, who all embody middle American mediocrity and suburban/exurban interests.

[dtowncitylover]

The family was sitting around the tube and a Snyder ad came on, my dad, a Republican, says, "Government shouldn't be run like a business", I say, "Reagan thought so", his only response was "Reagan was a genius."

But Snyder is the best GOP candidate for the city.

[JenniferL]

I went to a Rick Snyder townhall meeting at OCC in Royal Oak. He spoke quite a lot about how our state will not succeed economically unless Detroit and our other cities are also successful. He emphasized public transportation as well. I was a bit stunned, as I am used to Republicans either ignoring Detroit or treating it like some kind of disease.

I was also impressed with the way Rick Snyder answered the audience's questions at the townhall. Most of the audience were small business owners and they were pretty tough on him. In a way, he kind of reminded me of Hillary Clinton-- they're both walking encyclopedias who can speak in detail on a number of issues without teleprompters or notes.

I don't normally vote for Republicans-- I've never voted for a Repub governor-- but after researching all of the candidates I decided that Rick Snyder is getting my vote.

[Danny]

Most Detroiters NEVER vote Republican. Detroiters mostly vote Democratic happy talk leaders. Most Detroiters will NEVER vote for Snyder. For his conservative principles relies on nerdy tactics from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. Stick with either Dillon or Bernero.