Tom George is the Republican version of Alma Wheeler Smith who was
mentioned in this space earlier this week concerning her alleged
inability to win the Democratic nomination for governor.
Unfortunately for the Kalamazoo GOP senator turned candidate for
governor, Mr. George is in the same boat. He's got low name
identification, an even lower bank account and even lower chances of
winning.
Nonetheless he gave a stand up performance the other day in front
of a bunch of engineers most of whom would love a gas tax hike to
engineer and build more roads.
Yet George pulled no punches when asked his stance on same.
"Ultimately it doesn't fix the problem. I'm a no vote," he took a
chance by not waffling, spinning or ducking for cover. He got points
for that, but probably not much support.
He was also direct on the smoking ban. He favors it while one of
his opponents, Mike Bouchard, does not. "He's wrong," George told the
crowd.
And issue by issue, George was clear and had a grasp of the issues.
(1) The Fair Tax. He "likes" it for its simplicity.
(2) The sales tax on services. "The door is open."
(3) A public bridge between Windsor and Detroit. Nope.
(4) Gov. Granholm? She was indecisive. By inference he will not be.
(5) The need for bi-partisan cooperation. Count him in.
Despite the "can't win tag" George assures everyone he has the
15,000 petition signatures to gain a spot on the August GOP primary
ballot and he's fixin to take on the non-politician in the field, Rick
Snyder.
"I don't have a bus," candidate George asserts in a not so subtle,
yet gentlemanly swipe at the rich Nerd who does. George has a bike and
don't be surprise if you see a campaign picture of his bike next to
you-know-who's lavish Snyder-mobile somewhere down the road.
The George performance was solid just like Ms. Wheeler-Smith who
is also well versed on the issues and not afraid to tell voters where
she stands. And he is like her in that they both forge ahead trying to
prove to the punditry class they are not DOA in this contest.