Based on the published reports coming out of Motown this week,a large segment of organized labor got what it wanted:  David Leyton got the nomination for state Attorney General,but it wasn't pretty. He beat Richard Bernstein,the son of Sam Bernstein by less than 170 votes.

     Proving that the labor movement in this state is not unified, the Teamsters and Michigan Education Association went with Bernstein while the UAW and AFL-CIO worked the trenches for the Genesee County Prosecutor.

     The subtext of the battle at the mini-state convention in Detroit over the weekend was whether Daddy Sam could somehow "buy" the nomination for his son who had passion, a strong track record of helping the truly needy, but not enough votes to nail down the nomination.

     Leyton played up his crime-fighter image and now goes on to take on the likely GOP nominee Bill Schuette who wasted little time branding Leyton as the mouthpiece for labor while Leyton fired back that Schuette was fronting for the insurance industry and big business.  (Oakland County Sen. Mike Bishop is also running for the GOP nomination.)

     Back to the Leyton vs.Bernstein showdown: It's unclear if foot in mouth disease doomed R.B.  Recall  Bernstein volunteered that many in his party where "fed-up" with the way the UAW tossed its weight around in the Democratic Party.  It was a dandy quote that they noticed over at Solidarity House.

    Even though Bernstein recanted his comments, the damage was already done.  When you lose by 163 votes the statement might have cost him the nomination...at least the UAW hopes other would be defectors

get that message.