Republicans tried twice, and failed, to beat Jennifer Granholm at the ballot box. Not only did they fail, but Dick DeVos failed spectacularly in 2006. Despite those failures, Michigan Republicans continue to run against Granholm.
What many of us call, “The Bush Years” are called, “The Lost Decade” by the Michigan GOP. The fact of the matter is that the entire country was in a deep recession during those years. Since Granholm has left office, Republicans have run ad after ad attempting to tie Democratic candidates to Governor Granholm claiming that they too were part the Granholm years. At the same time, Republicans have spent two elections promoting Mike Bishop for Congress. What the MiGOP fails to tell voters is that Mike Bishop was the Senate Majority Leader from 2007-2011.
That’s right, the Republicans say that the years when Mike Bishop was setting the legislative agenda were “The Lost Decade” when talking about Democratic candidates. But, they say nothing about “The Lost Decade” when they talk about Mike Bishop. Furthermore, Republicans fail to mention that they have had total control for most of the years since the Great Recession and working people in Michigan haven’t seen the comeback that the GOP is selling in their campaign ads.
We’ve come to expect hypocrisy from the Michigan Republican Party but standing with Mike Bishop while calling the years he led Michigan’s Senate “The Lost Decade” is the height of hypocrisy. Republicans need to decide if Michigan was a mess when Bishop was in charge or if Mike Bishop should be called out for his failed leadership. They can’t have it both ways.