Michigan Attorney General candidate Mark Totten, left, and former governor William Milliken. WHY ON EARTH? Would Mr. Republican Milliken Not Endorse AG Bill Schuette
September 19, 2014
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The story seemed to be counter intuitive: William Milliken endorses Mark Totten, the Democratic opponent of Attorney General Bill Schuette.
This must infuriate the GOP establishment, especially that element that has embraced a malignant view that men have the responsibility to control the sexual proclivities of the opposite sex, if they can.
The answer seems to lie in Mr. Schuette's apparent bias against women based in his support for legislation limiting women's contraception access. It seems to many observers that Schuette has strayed from his law enforcement role too far into a right wing political miasma that doesn't serve all the people.
Some are asking if a fight against expansion of health care coverage, helping hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents, embraced by the way by Gov. Rick Snyder, is part of Schuette's job. The pair seem to be at odds in that arena so we'd like to hear from the Guv on what he thinks of Schuette's freelancing.
The snarky answer by Schuette's staff, noting that Totten was not paid for his work as a federal prosecutor, may betray another underlying weakness in Schuette's campaign -- the attitude of his staff.
Polls show the current AG in a tight race with a virtual unknown, causing voters to wonder why???
Here is what Michigan's longest serving former governor, the 92-year-old sage of Traverse City, said in his endorsement of Mark Totten:
"As Michigan's top law enforcement official, our attorney general plays a critical role in protecting consumers, protecting the environment, protecting our civil rights and protecting the public from crime.
"As I have evaluated the candidates for attorney general in Michigan this year, I have come to the conclusion that Mark Totten is the right candidate to be Michigan's next attorney general. I plan to vote for him, and I encourage others to support him as well.
"As I have come to know Mark Totten, I have found him to be an outstanding individual who is highly qualified to be Michigan's attorney general. Mark has a very broad base of experience that will serve him well in that office.
"He served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan where he secured convictions against sex offenders preying on our children, protected women from domestic abusers, and took on predatory lenders.
"He conducted landmark research that identified ways that state attorneys general can use Wall Street reform rules to protect consumers. Other state attorneys general around the nation are using his findings as a blueprint for their consumer protection initiatives.
"Currently Mark is on the faculty of the Michigan State University College of Law. He also compiled an exceptional academic record, earning a Ph.D in ethics and his law degree from Yale University.
Based on his record, I know he will use the office to protect consumers, protect the environment, advocate for badly needed ethics reform in government, take on violent crime and also champion criminal justice reform, and protect the civil rights of every Michigan resident.
"For all these reasons, I know he will be an outstanding attorney general, and I urge Michigan voters to vote for Mark Totten for attorney general."
One commentator, who aptly calls himself the Michigan Curmudgeon, growls alarmingly:
"Totten is a former federal prosecutor and teaches law at Michigan State University. Unlike the current Attorney General, Totten has pledged to focus on fighting domestic abuse, sex offenders who prey on children and predatory lenders.
"Bill Schuette's term as Attorney General has been focused on building a national right-wing profile with showy, expensive lawsuits targeting Obamacare and defending Michigan's discrimination against the LGBT community.
"Schuette's most recent trip to federal court could, if supported by the U.S. Supreme Court, cost state taxpayers BILLIONS in lost federal tax credits they otherwise would receive as a part of the Affordable Care Act."
The Schuette staff had a stiff response to Milliken's startling endorsement.
"Attorney General Schuette likes Governor Milliken and respects his service, but seeing that Mr. Totten stakes his candidacy on being a prosecutor, I wonder if Mr. Totten told Gov. Milliken that he has never once convicted a criminal in trial court, and never once held a paid job as a prosecutor. That is the heart of his case for why he is qualified to be attorney general, but it doesn't hold up," Schuette Campaign Manager John Sellek told Booth Newspapers.
Totten cites his time as a "former federal prosecutor" on his campaign website.
Kaye Hooker, public information officer for the U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan, said Totten volunteered his time as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the court. These are unpaid positions where attorneys sometimes volunteer for a particular case or in a particular area of law. Totten worked in this capacity from Sept. 1, 2011 to Feb. 1, 2013, mainly on appellate cases.
Bob Berg of Berg Muirhead and Associates, the firm that sent out Milliken's statement, said it was the "overall breadth and depth" of Totten's experience that led to Milliken's endorsement.
"The Governor is impressed by his overall experience, not just the one aspect of being a prosecutor," Berg said.
We agree somewhat with the Schuette campaign that Mr. Totten perhaps stretched his credentials as a "federal prosecutor," but we think former Gov. Milliken's judgment of Totten's worth as a candidate based on his overall record trumps that.
Obviously, Mr. Milliken feels it his duty to use his long experience to advise Michigan voters on the AG race, a courageous stand in today's hyper-political environment.
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sunbeamf Says:
On September 26, 2014
at 08:20 AM
Poor Mr. Milliken--it must be very hard to watch the party that you so ably served for many years move so far away from you and your ideals. I don't think he would be able to be a candidate in today's Republican party--too liberal and willing to compromise. Thank you Mr. Milliken for speaking your mind!!
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