In the year before his successful 1990 bid to unseat Governor Jim Blanchard, Republican John Engler visited all 83 Michigan counties, mostly in his Oldsmobile sedan, lugging along a bulky phone-in-a-bag that worked only on occasion.

Last week, in his bid to unseat Governor Jennifer Granholm next year, Republican Dick DeVos reached the 83-county milestone when he dropped by the Peppermill Restaurant in Gladwin for a 5 p.m. "meet and greet" session with local folks after earlier stops in Standish, East Tawas, and Tawas City.

DeVos, who in these high-tech days makes cell phone calls and taps out wireless e-mails as he rides in his Lincoln Navigator SUV, arrived with a driver and a communications aide who downloads photos and videos for the campaign Web site.

"I've logged 28,118 miles since June and each mile has been an education," said the wealthy west Michigan businessman, former president of Amway and its parent company, Alticor, Inc. Some of the stops, especially in the Upper Peninsula, were made in DeVos' own small jet.

DeVos, the GOP's unopposed nominee-in-waiting, reached the 83-county mark about nine months before the 2006 primary. Engler, who was Senate majority leader and presumed nominee at the time and campaigned mostly on weekends, hit the mark in December 1989.

A common thread in the early journeys of Engler and DeVos was the PR flair of John Truscott, who was Engler's press secretary and now communications director for DeVos.

Truscott trumpeted DeVos " …having coffee at the Leland Fire House, enjoying a cheeseburger at Club 37 in Baldwin…visiting New Page Paper Company in Escanaba," etc.

Now DeVos will spend much more time in urban areas, including, this week, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Metro Detroit.

Truscott said DeVos is on track to meet his fundraising goal of $1 million by December. His wife, former Republican State Chairwoman Betsy DeVos, is helping on that front. Campaign finance obviously will not be a problem for a family that is one of Michigan's wealthiest, and one of the nation's top GOP contributors.

How's DeVos doing so far with voters? According to latest polling, about a third of them don't yet recognize his name. That's not surprising at this point, and can be overcome with time and money.

About the time that DeVos started his tour, he trailed Granholm, 33 percent to 51 percent, among 600 likely November 2006 voters surveyed by Lansing-based EPIC/ MRA. In the firm' s 600-sample October 19 to 25 poll, Granholm led, 53-30. (Margin of error: plus/minus 4 percentage points.)

Considering the margin of error, and that the election is a year away, not much should be read into the fact that he trailed her in October by five more points than he did in June (and by three more points than in September's slightly smaller sample.)

One thing that gets flyspecked by both camps at this stage is who's gaining where. Granholm has significantly increased her substantial lead in the Detroit media market; while DeVos has done the same in the Grand Rapids media market.

In coming months, the battle increasingly will be joined in Oakland and Macomb counties, and western Wayne. Just as Ottawa County long has been GOP West, Oakland County once was GOP East. Not now.

Northern Watch

DeVos' best showing among Michigan's five major media markets is a 48-32 lead in the Traverse City market, which covers much of the northern Lower Peninsula and the eastern Upper Peninsula.

Granholm's 32 percent is the lowest in any media market, as is her 32 percent in the Map Regions category that EPIC/MRA dubs "Lower North." However, in the Upper Peninsula, she leads, 75-13.

Regional sub-samples have a greater margin of error. But Granholm has an apparent need to shore up just below the bridge.

George Weeks is the political columnist for The Detroit News and is syndicated by Superior Features.