If Michigan voters had an opportunity for a do-over of last November’s election for Governor, Rick Snyder would likely be One Gone Nerd. We can’t redo November, 2010, of course, but lots of good folks are gunning for what would seem like the next best thing—recalling Snyder.
To those good citizens I say: think again. Think Governor Brian Calley.
To be sure, Rick Snyder deserves to be gone. The Governor is telling reporters the case against recalling him is weakened by the fact that he is only doing what he said he would do during his campaign.
Bullshit.
Did candidate Rick Snyder tell retirees he would tax their pensions to pay for a massive 86% corporate tax cut we don’t need and won’t create jobs?
Did candidate Rick Snyder say he would raise taxes on other individuals to pay for same corporate tax cuts?
Did candidate Rick Snyder tell Michigan’s parents that he would cut school aid so CEOs could get bigger bonuses this year?
Of course Snyder didn’t. He would have lost the election if he had. Snyder deeply deserves to be yanked from office by the voters he betrayed and who would now love a do-over.
Problem is, we don’t get a do-over by successfully recalling Snyder. We get Governor Calley. And Calley would bring the roiling political pot in Michigan to a boil.
Where Snyder says he doesn’t want Right to Work laws, Calley would be more than eager to take advantage of massive Republican majorities in the Legislature and push through a GOP power grab that would kill unions, cripple Democrats and make life hell in Michigan.
Where Snyder supports stem cell research and is passive about the fanatical right’s morality agenda on abortion and LGBT rights, Calley would be leading the Big Government cultural crusade.
For sure, there’s no guarantee Snyder won’t sign Right to Work, anti-choice and anti-gay legislation that lands on his desk. In fact he’s told the Tea Party he would sign Right to Work if passed by the Legislature.
But our best bet at not fighting what would be al all-out political war over GOP efforts to cripple the Democrats is Snyder. And the certain guarantee of a hard shift to the right on a host of conservative social issues is if Brian Calley is Governor.
That’s not change I can believe in.
Update: Since I posted this it has been pointed out, correctly, that Calley would serve as an interim governor until a special election, probably in February. I should have mentioned that, but it doesn’t change the fact that he will still be able to push through RTW and other legislation that Snyder isn’t prioritizing. A successful recall of Snyder may, as it has been pointed out, diminish the Republican appetite for RTW. The question is whether recalling Snyder is a better strategy than focusing efforts on the House in 2012 and positive ballot measures.