Early in election campaigns -- before the position papers, debates, and TV ads -- non-incumbent candidates strive to gain name ID by speaking out on news of the day and, sometimes, performing publicity gigs.

Consider actions last week by 2010 GOP gubernatorial contenders:

• Representative Pete Hoekstra of Holland, ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, threatened to block reprogramming of Defense Department intelligence funding that would be used for moving suspected terrorist detainees to the state’s to-be-closed Standish prison if the Obama administration makes that decision.

As for publicity stunts, he’s started, including in Detroit and the Traverse City area, on his quest to perform brief stints in 100 different jobs. He also is continuing stretches of the bicycle journeys he has done since he upset an incumbent in the 9th District 1992 GOP primary.

• State Senator Tom George, a Kalamazoo area medical doctor who is a well-qualified but relatively obscure and under-reported candidate for governor, cycled 213 miles this month in the Upper Peninsula, ending up in Ontonagon County. That brought to 623 the number of miles he has cycled since starting in June.

Said George: "This stage of our Fix Michigan bicycle tour was a big success because I met with a number of individuals who are concerned about the future of our state and they are also paying attention to the governor's race."

• Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, whose office, like Hoekstra’s, provides a certain cachet in dealing with the Standish issue, said last week: “The question should not be what should we do when it is empty, but why are we emptying it in the first place.

“Why would anyone want to push thousands of prisoners out into Michigan communities? We lead the nation in unemployment and we will be sending parolees into an environment where they will not find jobs. These folks will just continue to commit more crimes.”

I focus particularly here today on Bouchard because I chatted with him by phone after his visit to the Upper Peninsula State Fair in Escanaba last week, and before his visit this week to Traverse City (where he will be endorsed by ex-Senator George McManus, who remains influential in agricultural and other circles).

Bouchard’s campaign gig, complete with some follow-up online videos, are “Kitchen Table Tours,” meeting with folks in their homes. He calls it an “outgrowth” of what he did in walking neighborhoods in his local campaigns.

He said he hears “more common sense” in his kitchen table talks than he does from politicians in Lansing or Washington.

A GOP Stretch

Increasingly, Republicans tag woes facing term-limited Governor Jennifer Granholm on Lieutenant Governor John Cherry, who increasingly looms as the Democratic nominee in 2010.

In an August 20 release on “failed leadership” on prisons, Bouchard referred to “the Granholm/Cherry administration.”

A day earlier, Republican State Chairman Ron Weiser, in a press release about taxes, flat out said, “the Cherry Administration once again has developed a plan to pick your pockets to protect big government.”

More Than a Mitten

While in the Upper Peninsula, Bouchard applauded House passage last week of a bill by Representative Mike Lahti (D-Hancock) to require all official depictions of the state of Michigan to include both the Upper and Lower peninsulas.

Said Bouchard: “As I’ve always said: two peninsulask one state.”

Good Way To Go

In a welcome display of bipartisan and bicameral cooperation, Senator Jason Allen (R-Traverse City), chairman of the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee, and Representative Ed Clemente (D-Lincoln Park), chairman of the House New Economy and Quality of Life Committee, on Friday in Traverse City held their second session to get testimony from a variety of businesses on how best to promote job growth. The first was earlier in Detroit.

Among those testifying was Ray Pleva of Cerise Nutraceuticals, whose cherry-based products are creating quite a stir in university and other research circles.

Pleva’s presentation impressed Representative Marty Knollenberg, an Oakland County Republican who said, “I always thought cherries were something you [only] ate.”

George Weeks retired in 2006 after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.