With apologies to rock and roller Lou Cristy who sang, "Two
Faces Have I", there are two faces to every political conventions. The
first is the one the political operatives orchestrate for the best
possible message about the candidate for governor. They call it image
making.
And there was plenty of that in Detroit over the weekend as the
State Democrats launched their 2010 ticket.
Candidate Virg Bernero entered the arena to the strains of
Gonna Fly Now from the motion picture Rocky. If you got the connection
that the Virg was a fighter, the image makers would be smiling.
But there's face number two that the handlers are not so anxious
to promote because it removes some of the sheen from their image
polishing.
In Detroit that can be summed up in one word: Anxiety.
Be certain here, nobody has tossed in the towel on Rocky..err
Mr. Bernero but there is an under current. Some fear he might not do
well which could adversely impact the rest of the ticket.
Several folks would talk about that angle but if you reached for
the microphone or TV camera, they tightened up like a New England clam
One Democrat was especially good at dancing around the elephant,
or should one say, donkey in the room.
Rep. Woodrow Stanley (D-Flint) wants to be Speaker of the House
and as such he is closely monitoring all of his colleagues who are
running for reelection.
To be blunt, if Bernero tanks, those House D's could be in
trouble especially those in districts where the Republicans have a shot
at winning. Stanley, to his credit, conceded the point but quickly
added he does not expect that to happen.
And others were in the same boat.
But then there was Rep. Bert Johnson (D-Detroit.) He did not
waffle. He said Mr. Bernero has 30 days to prove he can cut into the
lead of Republican Rick Snyder.
If that does not happen, it's every man for himself.
State Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer disagrees with Mr.
Johnson. Naturally.
See why they want to keep a mask on that face?