Michigan Politics
State Stars Align for '08 Presidential Contenders
By George Weeks

At the start of his second term, Republican Attorney General Mike Cox has a dual focus.

He's off to a fast start on his primary mission - there were more arrests and filings last week - in adding to his aggressive pursuit of consumer and Great Lakes protection, fighting fraud and public corruption, protecting seniors from assorted scams and abuse, and nailing more Internet predators of children than any state other than Texas. (Arrests: Texas, 150-plus; Michigan, 117.)

Cox also is a major player as Michigan, at this early stage, looms as a key 2008 GOP presidential nomination battleground between Arizona Senator John McCain, upset winner of the 2000 primary, and ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Michigan-born son of the late Governor George Romney.

Retired Marine Cox chairs ex- POW McCain's Michigan exploratory effort with much the same emotional zeal as that of thenstate Senator Joe Schwarz, a retired Navy and CIA officer, in chairing McCain's 2000 Michigan campaign.

Schwarz, an unsuccessful candidate for the 2002 GOP gubernatorial nomination and then a U.S. congressman who lost his seat last year after being targeted in the primary by the GOP right, is a moderate ready to sign on again for McCain.

"I'm in his column," he said.

As for Cox, he says: "You won't find a more conservative elected statewide official (in Michigan) than me. I feel very comfortable" with McCain.

I asked the comfort level question because there are those on the religious right who still criticize McCain, who has courted social conservatives and is gung-ho for a surge of U.S. forces in Iraq, on such issues as his refusal (wisely, in my view) to put an anti-gay marriage provision in the Constitution.

Cox does not agree with McCain on all issues, including McCain's campaign finance reforms. But he says: "I want to elect a president. I don't want a parrot."

The Arizona senator, as of now, has the A-Team among Michigan Republicans who have declared 2008 presidential preferences at this early stage. Among them: National Committeeman Chuck Yob and National Committeewoman Holly Hughes, and McCain Finance Chairman Jim Nicholson, Metro Detroit businessman and proven fund-raiser.

State Senator Michelle McManus (R-Lake Leelanau) was named last week as state chairman of Women for McCain.

Romney also is coming on strong, announcing Friday staff operations in a half dozen major primary states. As regional director for the 1st and 4th Congressional Districts is Brandon Darin of Traverse City, ex-staffer for the state GOP who also worked on the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign and the 2006 Dick DeVos gubernatorial campaign.

U.S. Representative Dave Camp (R-Midland) is among state co-chairs for Romney, who is having his own problems these days with the Republican right.

Although not at the announced organizational level of the McCain or Romney efforts in Michigan, there are stirrings of support here for other presidential prospects in both parties.

Labor efforts abound for ex- Senator John Edwards (D-North Carolina), the 2004 vice presidential nominee whose 2008 effort is chaired by ex-U.S. Representative David Bonior, the former House minority whip from Mount Clemens.

Extended Service

They are out of elective office, but Republican Bill Milliken, Michigan's longest-serving governor (1969-82), and Democrat Frank Kelley, longest-serving attorney general (1961-98) are still serving the state in elder advisory capacities.

They were tapped by Governor Jennifer Granholm in 2003 to cochair her land use advisory council (many of its recommendations still languish) and this year for her emergency panel to evaluate ideas for dealing with the state's grim financial woes. (Milliken and ex- Governor Jim Blanchard are cochairs.)

Milliken also serves on a panel that U.S. District Judge John Feikens named to study oversight of the troubled Detroit Water and Sewerage Department and its suburban customers.

Kelley is a member of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, itself a hotbed of controversy over the decades.

So it is no wonder that Cox, a relative newcomer to state government, relished his luncheon appointment last week with Kelley, the most seasoned sage in the Capital City.

George Weeks retired last year after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.