On paper, it looks like a buffo deal to have Pete Hoekstra as the
running mate with Rick Snyder.
All the math adds up. Snyder needs west Michigan support as he
has no political base over there. Hoekstra: Check.
Snyder needs to shore up his standing with the Right to Life wing
of the party since it has decided not to endorse him. Hoekstra: Check.
Since Snyder saw 50% of the conservative vote go to somebody else
in the primary he needs to cattle call them back home. Hoekstra: Can
do.
Snyder wants somebody who shares his vision and values: Hoekstra
has no problem with that.
The calculus works, but the paring will not.
No one will talk about this on the record, so you have to read the
tea leaves.
For openers, Hoekstra did not grow up wanting to be President of
the Michigan Senate. The daily routine consists of banging the gavel
at 10 a.m. to start the senate's day and two hours later, banging it
again to end it. In between the Lt. Governor plays traffic cop and
school principal to keep the noisy senators quiet.
Secondly, if Mr. Snyder brings the Chuck and John Yob family into
his inner circle after they helped him secure the GOP nomination, it's
a good bet Hoekstra wants nothing to do with them. The Yob image in the
party is a mixed bag and leans toward disdain in many quarters.
Hoekstra is not a big fan.
However if the Yobs are out and a new and more meaty job
description could be worked out for Hoekstra, he might be more
amendable.
But doesn't look like that will happen.
There are no, repeat, no signals out of the victorious Snyder camp
that Hoekstra is in the mix for L.G. The silence is deafening and can
be heard all the way over in Holland where Hoekstra hangs out.
Likewise on the Hoekstra side of the equation. "I've not ruled
anything in our ruled anything out," he recites the typical boilerplate
line for those who might be under consideration. He's said nothing more.
He's not campaigning for the second spot on the ticket and that
suits the Snyder suits just fine.
Look for the soon to be former Congressman and former front runner
for the GOP nomination to bow out quietly and move to the private
sector after the first of the year.