Alma Wheeler Smith has a beef with the political press that covers
her second bid for governor on the democratic side. She thinks the
popular wisdom that she can't win is not true.
"You guys need to stop saying she can't win and just say we've got
three competent people here who are equally unknown in the state of
Michigan," as she attempts to rewrite the story line that "she can't
win."
She may have a point, but the polling has consistently placed her
in third place but she argues when voters find out who is she and what
she has done, she jumps 7 percent and moves closer to Speaker Andy
Dillon and Mayor Virg Benero who also contend for the D nomination this
August.
Most agree she could be governor but she lacks the name ID and
sufficient money to really advance her cause. Is that the media's
fault or her's? She would argue the former.
But the media can counter that when she ran in 2002 for governor
she dropped out of the hunt unable to compete with the likes of Jim
Blanchard, David Bonior and Jennifer Granholm.
It seems pretty clear that Ms. Smith, for whatever reason, has
been unable to fully connect with the electorate again.
She remains confident however that she will file enough petition
signatures to stay in this race but clearly she feels the media
treatment is off the mark.
"Something here smells rotten in Denmark. I think you all have
kinda made a decision that that's what your story is," the frustrated
candidate observes.
If the democratic primary was held today, the winner would not be
Smith, Dillon or Benero. It would be undecided and with half of the
vote up for grabs, Smith can not be ruled out.
That's about as fair as you can make it.