Big Democratic night in Michigan, Rhode Island
Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, also a Democrat, handily won re-election last night in my home state of Michigan. Stabenow's win was not much of a surprise, but Granholm had come close to being written off for dead a month ago in her re-election bid against Amway heir Dick DeVos, Jr., a rightwing Republican.
DeVos likely lost for a number of reasons, including his opposition to embryonic stem cell research and the fact that he had closed a factory in Michigan and moved the jobs to China, an especially sensitive issue in Michigan. But I suspect the number one reason he lost is because he embraced George W. Bush. DeVos and his family have been major league supporters of Bush since he first ran for President in 2000. This election is turning out to be a greater repudiation of Bush than I had hoped for in my wildest dreams.
The Grand Rapids Press says DeVos carried only people with incomes greater than $150,000 and evangelical Christians who attend church several times a week.
As Democratic consultant James Carville said on CNN a little while ago, this election was all about public hatred of the Iraq War. Paula Zahn just gave the statistics behind Republican Sen. Lincoln Chaffee's loss in Rhode Island. Some 52 perent of Ocean State voters "strongly" disapprove of the war in Iraq, and voted 3-1 against Chaffee despite liking him personally. The victorious Democrat, Sheldon Whitehouse, was almost apologetic about his victory, saying Chaffee was in the wrong party.