No one can deny that the current governor is probably one of the best modern day governor's at capturing an audience's attention.  Even after six years, those who are left from the original team still call her a rock star.

    However when it comes to working a legislative deal or using the power of her office to advance her agenda in a divided legislature, she is no Madonna.

    However, magically, seven years into the mission, she demonstrated a nifty move the other day that was almost John Engler-ish in craftiness.

    Maybe it was an accident, but regardless, the other day she blurted out that she had, almost on the hook, a buyer for the abandoned Ford Wixom Plant in Oakland County.  The beast has sat there for the past two years. 

    But there was one hitch.  She needed the legislature to cough up some extra tax credits to close the deal and as fate would have it, and here was the genius in letting the cat out of the bag, the Wixom plant is in the district of Sen. Nancy Cassis. She's been on a crusade to hold up more tax credits until there is more proof that the money is working to create jobs.

   So there was Ms. Cassis sitting on the governor's bill while the governor daintily dangled 12,000 jobs in front of the aforementioned Oakland County senator who wants work for her constituents.  By making it public, the governor is exerting tremendous pressure on Cassis to get off the dime and move the governor's tax credit bill.

   On top of that, Cassis wants to water down the governor's Hollywood Film tax credit.  Now is it possible the governor will play hardball and advise the senator that the Wixom plant might not happen, if Cassis doesn't back off the film credit stuff, too?

   That's what John Engler would have done.

   Does Gov. Granholm have the same guts to toss a high hard one at Cassis?