Democratic candidate for governor Andy Dillon appears poised to
go where the former democratic candidate and front runner for governor
steadfastly refused to go.
Looks like Dillon is fixin' to toss his governor under the bus
and why not, it could help him win the democratic nomination.
Lt. Gov. John Cherry you'll recall was urged to put some
distance between himself and his boss as he rode to the party nod.
But Cherry could not bring himself to diss her to enhance his
own chances. Style points for being a nice guy…but we know what
happens to nice guys.
Enter Mr. Dillon.
Heretofore when asked about his disagreements with the governor,
he has played nice dismissing the question with answers such as, "I
would have done it differently" or some other quint rebuff that was
hardly hardball rhetoric.
Is that now changing?
At a forum the other day, Dillon volunteered that Ms. Granholm
was not adept at getting votes out of the legislature because she
"never built relationships" with lawmakers.
As Mark Hornbeck in the Detroit News correctly noted, it was the
most critical thing he has said to date about her.
And this may be just the beginning.
The sitting governor remains a grand person with all sorts of
energy and drive but politically she is toxic and everyone in town
knows it including Dillon.
Here is a guy who is fashioning a campaign theme that he can
stand up to his "friends" in organized labor when he has to and he's
lookin' like he'll stand up and take a shot or two at the governor.
The charge that she never built relationships with lawmakers is
certainly not for the lack of trying. The desire was there and she was
a likeable chap and fun to be around, but if there was no connection,
whose fault was that?
Certainly Dillon and his once happy sidekick and Senate GOP
leader Mike Bishop did not make her job any easier as they cut her off
at the pass, talked behind her back and seemed to be plotting to make
sure she never had a sound and trustworthy relationship with them. It
is a two-way street don't ya know.
So if Dillon is going to toss her under the bus on this point,
maybe he should haul himself and Bishop under there, too.
Look out for the rear wheels boys. They can be murder on your
back.