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Chris
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Date Posted: 10/15/05 1:43pm
In reply to:
Chris
's message, "Here's all the details on one page" on 10/11/05 8:40pm
Fieger isn't faking bid for attorney general
By George Weeks / The Detroit News
In convincing fashion, Geoffrey Fieger and other Democrats Wednesday shot down my initial reactions to his surprise announcement that he's exploring whether to run next year against Republican Attorney General Mike Cox.
Reaction 1: The flamboyant Southfield attorney and 1998 gubernatorial nominee is just teasing, as he did in recent years about moving to Detroit and running for mayor. "I'm not teasing at all," Fieger said. "I'm definitely doing it." Clearly, there's more than mischief at play here.
Reaction 2: When he ran in 1998, party bosses, including Wayne County Executive Ed McNamara, maneuvered Jennifer Granholm on the ticket as candidate for attorney general. The two had awkward moments on the campaign trail. Is this somehow payback?
He insists not. But it's interesting that Granholm said she had "no idea" about his declaration until he made it. Fieger told me he left word with her office a few hours before his announcement.
Granholm also told reporters that Fieger would "spice up the race" for AG and called him a champion "for the little guy."
Reaction 3: Organized labor, most notably the United Auto Workers, the most dominant force on the floor of state conventions where nominations are decided, will block him. Fieger says he'll have solid labor support and asserts: "I will be the nominee."
He says his 1998 problems with the UAW stemmed from his defeat of UAW-endorsed Larry Owen in the gubernatorial primary and notes that then-President Steve Yokich is no longer at the helm.
Labor sources indicate that Fieger isn't blowing smoke about getting significant labor support. Says Democratic State Chairman Mark Brewer, who holds the job because of UAW support when Granholm tried to replace him 2003: "We've come a long way since 1998."
As to whether Fieger's past spat with labor is cause to write off his chances for the nomination, Brewer said: "Not at all, not at all."
In fact, I get the impression that Brewer is a fan of Fieger's in-your-face way to deal with Republicans. One labor operative, a Granholm fan, said Fieger's candidacy may be a way of letting labor decide one position on Granholm's Democratic ticket.
Granholm told reporters she has no declared preference and is "so not" focused on 2006 at this point because she's dealing with more immediate priorities. But she has been "very supportive" of ex-District Judge M. Scott Bowen of Wyoming, a Granholm appointee who resigned to run for AG. State Rep. Alexander Lipsey of Kalamazoo also is in the mix.
Not to be forgotten is that Cox has an ongoing criminal investigation of a complaint from Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land about alleged filing irregularities on $400,000 of Fieger-financed spending opposing the successful 2004 re-election of Republican Michigan Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman.
Fieger, in his announcement, cited Cox's political action committee donation of $34,000 to Markman's campaign as part of the "stench of cronyism" on Cox's watch.
Granholm at this early stage may waffle on shape of her re-election ticket. But she correctly says Fieger could be the spice of '06.
Reach George Weeks at (517) 371-3660 or gweeks07@aol.com.
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