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In and outs of the political campaigns, focusing on Michigan and Lansing, Tim Skubick will report regularly throughout the primary and then general election campaigns.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Breaking Unwritten Rules

  There was an unwritten rule that politicians who were in office seldom got challenged by someone from their own party---call It the "Honor Among Thieves" rule if you want.
   Unless an incumbent did something really awful, they were safe.  Not anymore.
   Exhibit A:  Detroit Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, mother of you-know-who, had a nasty scare last November when she was reelected with only 32% of the vote.  The reason she won was because she had two other democratic opponents who divided up the rest of the electorate.
   Then came a dust up between the veteran congresswoman and the even more veteran congressman named John Dingell.  Dingell did not endear himself to Ms. Kilpatrick when he called for the resignation of her son as Mayor of Detroit.  You know how mom's can be about protecting thei r offspring.
   So when it came time for Mr. Dingell to fight for the chairmanship of an important congressional committee, word has it Ms. Kilpatrick stiffed Mr. Dingell.
   Can you say, bad blood?
   Now the word is, that some folks in the Democratic Party want to get even with her and assuming she runs in 2010 "there will be a single candidate who is well financed" to take her on.  This could get nasty.
   But there's more.
   Oakland County veteran Congressman Sandy Levin would be a shoe-in for reelection under normal circumstances, but a fellow Macomb County State Senator, democrat Mickey Switalski, is "considering" taking on the incumbent Mr. Levin.
   It's not that Levi n has done anything wrong.  It's just that Switalski is going to be term limited out of his senate seat and is looking for work.  Mind you, he doesn't want to talk about this but the ambitious Switalski will decided within thirty days whether to break that unwritten rule of about leaving incumbents alone.  Sandy Levin take note. 

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