67% of the Dossier readers said no to renominating Justice Weaver.

27% said Yes

6% are unsure

This email was sent out recently to members of the Campaign for Michigan Families also known as Gary Glenn. I know what you’re thinking, who cares? Not me, but I am sure someone reading does.

From: Campaign for Michigan Families <CMF@chartermi.net>
Date: April 29, 2009 12:11:06 PM EDT
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
Subject: John Yob setting up mtgs for Huntsman in Michigan
Reply-To: Campaign for Michigan Families <CMF@chartermi.net>

“In Michigan, political consultant John Yob has been setting up meetings for Huntsman around the state.”
 
 
“Utah Gov. John Huntsman (R), seen by many as a potential top-tier presidential candidate in 2012, has been uninvited from a local Michigan Republican club after announcing his support for civil unions between gay couples. …The move won praise from the Campaign for Michigan Families, one of the main groups behind Michigan’s 2004 passage of a ban on same-sex marriages. Campaign chairman Gary Glenn called on Kalamazoo and Oakland County Republican Parties to cancel their own planned events with the two-term Utah governor. …Huntsman won praise in February from the Human Rights Campaign, one of the leading gay rights organizations in the country, when he announced he would back civil unions as contractual agreements between what he called non-traditional couples.”
 
———————

THE HILL
Washington, D.C.
April 29, 2009
 
Huntsman slammed for embracing civil unions
by Reid Wilson

Utah Gov. John Huntsman (R), seen by many as a potential top-tier presidential candidate in 2012, has been uninvited from a local Michigan Republican club after announcing his support for civil unions between gay couples.

Huntsman is touring Michigan this week and stopping at several county party events as he slowly raises his national profile. But the Kent County Republican Party this week canceled Huntsman’s appearance, with the county party chairwoman saying his appearance would amount to an abandonment of party principles.

Joanne Voorhees, chairwoman of the party in the Grand Rapids-based county, emailed party members to announce the cancellation of the Saturday fundraiser.

“The voters want and expect us to stand on principle and return to our roots,” Voorhees wrote in an email. “Unfortunately, by holding an event with Gov. Huntsman, we would be doing the exact opposite.”

The move won praise from the Campaign for Michigan Families, one of the main groups behind Michigan’s 2004 passage of a ban on same-sex marriages. Campaign chairman Gary Glenn called on Kalamazoo and Oakland County Republican Parties to cancel their own planned events with the two-term Utah governor.

In place of the canceled Kent County fundraiser, Huntsman will be hosted by Dick DeVos, the GOP gubernatorial nominee in 2006 and a major Republican fundraiser in the state, and wife Betsy DeVos for a fundraiser in Grand Rapids that benefits the state party.

Huntsman will also stop by the Muskegon County GOP.

Huntsman won praise in February from the Human Rights Campaign, one of the leading gay rights organizations in the country, when he announced he would back civil unions as contractual agreements between what he called non-traditional couples.

Huntsman has emerged as a leading voice urging national Republicans to moderate their positions and has signaled that, were he to run for president, he would do so as a centrist with business credentials. He has said that he doesn’t plan to run for president, though he has well-known consultants guiding him as he visits several states crucial to winning the GOP primary.

Earlier this year, Huntsman visited several state party events in South Carolina, site of the first-in-the-South primary. He has also stopped in North Carolina and will give a speech at a conference later this week in Chicago.

In South Carolina, Huntsman met a number of party chairmen and activists with Attorney General Henry McMaster (R) at his side. In Michigan, political consultant John Yob has been setting up meetings for Huntsman around the state.

Campaign Update

April 20, 2009

Dear Friends and Supporters:

Since forming our committee, I have been traveling around our state attending Lincoln Day Dinners and most recently I attended the Macomb County Lincoln Day Dinner where Governor John Engler was the keynote speaker.

In addition to meeting with grassroots activists, I have been meeting with various groups and organizations to share our message of fixing Michigan. Today, I had the honor of speaking to the students, faculty and community members at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where I focused on the issue of making Michigan healthier.

I am also pleased to report that our campaign is off to a great start with three successful fundraisers in Grand Rapids, Birmingham and Kalamazoo. A campaign is only as good as its team of supporters and volunteers, but with every successful campaign it also takes financial resources to execute a winning plan. Our campaign is working aggressively to raise the necessary funds that will go toward advertising, campaign materials, signs, and campaign activities.

As our team of support continues to grow, I look forward to hearing from you with your ideas and suggestions. See you along the campaign trail and thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

Tom George, MD

State Senator

Candidate for Governor

——————————————————

April 21, 2009
Categories: 2010

McCain facing 2010 primary

Social conservatives tolerated John McCain as the party’s nominee, but never trusted him, and he now appears to be facing a serious primary from the right in Arizona next year.

Chris Simcox, the founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and a prominent figure in the movement to clamp down on illegal immigration, will announcing tomorrow at an event on the Mexican border that he’s resigned from the group to run in the 2010 Senate primary.

From a forthcoming release:

“John McCain has failed miserably in his duty to secure this nation’s borders and protect the people of Arizona from the escalating violence and lawlessness,” Simcox said. “He has fought real efforts over the years at every turn, opting to hold our nation’s border security hostage to his amnesty schemes. Coupled with his votes for reckless bailout spending and big government solutions to our nation’s problems, John McCain is out of touch with everyday Arizonans. Enough is enough.”

McCain was forced to abandon his own immigration reform legislation during last year’s Republican Primary, a move that may have cost him substantial Hispanic support to which his record could have given him access.

So he’s basically getting it from both sides on this one.

Simcox, with a national base and a high profile on the right, is well positioned to give McCain a serious local headache. He’ll find some allies among the conservatives who recently took over the Arizona Republican Party from McCain’s allies, and he has a national fundraising base.

UPDATE: Here’s his campaign website, which includes a clear effort not to be a single-issue immigration candidate.

Leon Drolet told MIRS News “Yeah, I’m running,” referring to the seat currently held by term limited Alan Sanborn.

Former Governor Engler gave the keynote speech at the Macomb County Republicans Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner on the 15th. When he was listing people that we need to help get elected and win reelection Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Weaver was noticeably left off of the list.

According to MIRS News Engler specifically mentioned the two congressional seats that we lost in ‘08, the Governors office, Mike Nofs for Senate and reelecting Robert Young to the Supreme Court.

In Robert Young’s speech he told attendees that they need to return two conservative Justices to the Court and implied that Weaver was not one of them.

Mike Cox was not at the event, but his spokesman and Fmr MRP Chair, Rusty Hills highlighted Cox’s credentials by saying that he was the only statewide elected official to support the Michigan Civil Right Initiative.

Read the Macomb Daily article on the dinner.

PAUL WELDAY LAUNCHES BID FOR
THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
IN MICHIGAN ’S NINTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
 
 
( Farmington Hills , MI )…. Oakland County businessman and former GOP Chairman Paul Welday of Farmington Hills announced today that he intends to be a candidate for the US House of Representatives from Michigan ’s Ninth Congressional district in 2010.   The announcement of his candidacy was made at a Tax Tea Party in Troy , Michigan via Facebook and Twitter.   The Ninth Congressional district is currently represented by freshman Democrat Congressman Gary Peters (D-MI).
 
 “For over six years Michigan ’s economy has been in the tank, and now America is feeling much the same pain we have become all too familiar with,” Welday said.   “While we have been promised hope and change, what we are getting from our current Congressman is grandstanding and massive deficit spending.   The voters of Oakland   County deserve a Member of Congress who understands that it is the private sector – not government – that will lead us out of our near-depression economic woes.   Unfortunately, Gary Peters stands with those in Washington who believe a huge increase in federal taxes, spending, and debt is the answer to our nation’s challenges.   I believe that approach is the wrong direction for America and think it’s high time for new, common sense leadership that is woefully absent in Washington today.”
 
“Gary Peters has misread the sentiments of the people of Oakland   County and he is not representing us.   Rather than fight for job creation and economic growth, Peters votes hand-in-hand with Barack Obama and the Democrat leadership to spend taxpayer money we don’t have on government programs we can’t afford.   We need private sector incentives that create real, long lasting jobs that will spark our economy to get it growing again.   Unfortunately, the Obama -Peters-Pelosi team in Washington supports a bigger federal government approach every time.   It won’t work and has to stop.   I intend to offer real alternatives because I know we can – and must – do better.   I will give the voters of the Ninth Congressional District a very real choice as to the direction of our nation and challenge Congressman Peters to debate these issues every chance we get.”
Welday is President and CEO of Renaissance Strategies, a leading Michigan-based public relations and public affairs consulting firm.   He served as Chief of Staff to former US Representative Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) from 1993-2002.   He had previously served as Chief of Staff to Omaha , Nebraska Mayor P.J. Morgan, Executive Director of the Oakland County Republican Party and as a member of the Farmington Hills Planning Commission.

I’m back after taking an extended Easter. This past Easter Sunday was exceptionally a good one because I had given up pop and television for Lent. So as you can imagine I spent a good portion of Sunday watching TV while drinking Mt. Dew.

At the Club for Growth, the President, Pat Toomey resigned in order to get his campaign under way for US Senate in Pennsylvania against Arlen Specter. Toomey nearly beat Specter the last time around despite being largely over spent and with George W Bush and Sen. Rick Santorum backing Specter.

Now, Former Congressman Chris Chocola has taken the helm of the organization and is spending his time raising money for his predecessors run for Senate.

Be sure to sign up for Toomey’s email list and donate if you can. Closer to the elections they will also be asking everyone who is willing to make phone calls for the campaign. http://www.toomeyforsenate.com/

On April 15th (tax day) there was a massive protest at the state capitol. Local law enforcements estimates that the protesters numbered around 5,000 and there was also said to be around 2,500 in Troy. Detroit News coverage of the event can be found here.

Yesterday in Washington DC at the Log Cabin Republican National Convention the organization bestowed the “Uncommon Courage Award,” on eight Republican Vermont State Legislators who voted for marriage equality. Yes, I said Republican legislators. Representative Anne Donahue accepted the award on behalf of her and her colleagues at the convention.

A few days ago, MichiganMessenger.com (a website which people affiliated with say is “Progressive”) did an article on the shabby state of the Log Cabin Republicans in Michigan recently. For whatever the reason the current chair feels the need to share information that is negative about the organization to the liberal…ahem…”Progressive Media.”

There is currently a move underway in Michigan to reorganize the LCRs in Michigan of which I am part of. You should be hearing information on it shortly.

Congressman Pete Hoekstra told the Off the Record panel today that he does not support Michigan becoming a “right to work,” state because it is too divisive given the current economic condition that we are in.

He went on to say that pro choice people shouldn’t be excluded from the party and that he personally could vote for a pro choice person.

I think is going to be one of those quotes that eight months down the road tha he wished tha he never would have said.

You can watch the interview here.

Hoekstra last week introduced a bill in the House to amend the U.S. Constitution to permanently “enshrine” in American society an inviolable set of parents’ rights. The bill had 70 co-sponsors, all Republicans, including Minority Whip Eric Cantor and Minority Leader John A. Boehner.

Read the full story here

Matt Sawicki pronounced sa veet ski

Former 5th District Candidate and self proclaimed “Vicar”, Matt Sawicki has called on Fr. “Judas” Jenkins, the President of the University of Notre Dame to resign.

In a call to Fr. Jenkins last week Sawicki said,  “Fr. Judas, why are you crucifying our Lord again and slapping our most Holy Mother in the face?

Sawicki said at first they would put him through to voice mail but now they just hang up as soon as he says “Can I speak with Fr. Judas?”