When current Michigan Governor Rick Snyder decided to run for the office, his campaign theme was “One Tough Nerd”. The theme capitalized on his business background and his impressive education credentials that include a Bachelor of General Studies, Masters of Business Administration and a law degree all from the University of Michigan and attained by the age of 23. In other words, this man can add and subtract and balance a set of books, all skills woefully lacking in the current crowd governing from DC.
One of the ironies of the two years since the 2010 Michigan elections that brought forth the 96th legislature and the first term of Governor Rick Snyder is the contrast between Michigan’s direction and that of Congress and the President. While Michigan has made immense strides in turning the state away from the central planning and labor union-centric approach of the prior Granholm administration, our federal government seems to have doubled down on this template for economic failure. Indeed, former Michigan Governor Granholm – who presided over eight years of record job loss and economic decline during her tenure – is on the short list for national Labor Secretary.
Certainly if any state needed an abrupt change in course, it was Michigan. By almost any measure of misery: unemployment, population loss, bankruptcies, foreclosures, personal income etc. Michigan had the dubious distinction of leading the nation. Some (labor unions, social welfare entitlement advocates – the usual suspects) complain that the changes taking place in our state over the last two years were too many, too fast. Anyone with that view has failed to see (or just refused to believe) that Michigan was in critical condition and needed decisive intervention in order to survive.
The same could be said about our state of affairs at the national level. We are in critical condition and we need decisive intervention in order to turn America around. We need a nerd.
