Some Republicans Organize To Help Granholm

[livvy]

Published: Friday, October 13, 2006

Some Republicans organize to help Granholm

By KURT HAUGLIE, DMG Writer

HOUGHTON — Gil Ziegler has been a Republican for much of his adult life, but for almost 20 years he’s been concerned about the direction the party has taken.

Ziegler, who is chairman of the recently-formed Republicans for Granholm public action committee based in downstate Livonia, said as he saw it, the change in the Republican Party began in 1988 when Evangelical minister Pat Robertson ran for president of the United States.

“It totally changed the political scene,” Ziegler said. “The party’s changed. The Right Wing has taken over the party.”

Although he is concerned about the direction the Republican Party is headed, Ziegler said he is wary of labels as far as political philosophy is concerned.

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http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=3954

[Hidden Stillness]

1. Some Repubs Realize They Need to Get the Extremists Out of Their Party

There was a program on Michigan PBS a few months ago or whatever it was, "The Millikens," featuring an interview, (unfortunately, with the asshole Tim Skubick), with both former Governor William and Helen Milliken, and part of it was of them painfully talking about what has become of the Michigan Republican Party--taken over by extremist, archconservative anti-abortion and anti-feminist, and extremist corporate, elements--since the 1980s. Remember that the Millikens fought for the ERA during the '70s, the State had a decent relationship with Detroit and Milliken knew the importance of helping Detroit's problems, poverty, crime, etc. Milliken was a really good, moderately liberal Governor, of a kind that used to exist commonly in the Midwest and Northeast among Republicans, and who now cannot get nominated by their Party. There was once a civil relationship between the two Parties, and a good relationship between the Government and the needs of the citizens: there was no "extremist base" pushing "its agenda," as Republicans are now--there was public service. I think, finally, finally, after all these horrible years, many of them are getting organized to throw the devils out.

Apart from this, there is general support for Granholm because she is highly intelligent and principled, and has done a lot of work trying to help--and trying to fight off an extremist, completely irresponsible Michigan Republican Legislature--our State, and she has been known to be a great advocate for citizens ever since she was the top lawyer in Attorney General Frank Kelly's office. She is exactly of the mainstream, middle-class-and-poor orientation, and very effective as a Governor, that Michigan needs, and only Democrats provide. Now, I wish they'd get rid of that stupid Republican scheme of "term limits." We will lose our great Governor, and gain the likes of Bush and Cheney by "term limits."