Rick Snyder, Newly Elected Michigan Governor, Defies Conventional Wisdom And Reaches Out To Rival

Most of Washington is working hard at sizing up the new state of the GOP by strutting and fretting over what side in the "Civil War" shall prevail: the establishment GOP that turned obstruction into an art form or the newly arrived "Tea Party" set that have campaigned on the notion that the United States is a hair's breadth away from plunging into abject tyranny.

But there is another alternative! In Michigan, we have newly elected GOP governor Rick Snyder, who ran as an insurgent to establishment figures like Pete Hoekstra, all the while campaigning as a conciliatory optimist. And Ben Smith makes this pull from today's Detroit Free Press, which finds that Snyder has begun matching deeds to words -- appointing a political rival, Andy Dillon, to his team as the Michigan State Treasurer:

The appointment of Dillon, a Redford Democrat who also was a candidate for governor, was virtually unprecedented for a newly elected Republican governor. Snyder said it was proof that he really does want to govern differently to avoid partisan gridlock.

"I don't worry about labels," he said. "We all have a background of solving problems, and Michigan is in a crisis. We can hit the ground running to solve our problems. And the caliber of talent here is world-class."

Allow me to wonder again: what political show will be the first to book Rick Snyder?

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Comments

[Brenda Battle Jordan]

06:49 PM on 11/10/2010

Good Job Rick, Ken and Brenda Battle Jordan.

[Cookie100]

04:54 PM on 11/09/2010

The more I read at the GOP at the state levels, the more relieved I am a Dem (Kitzhaber) won in Oregon for Governor.
Haley Barbor & Chris Christie both showed up the Saturday before the election to pander on behalf of the Dud (Dudley).
Yha'll a big red faced governor from Mississippi and a big red faced governor from New Jersey are really persuasive to voters in the Pacific NW. This area is really different than the rest of this country.
We don't even have anything in common with California, except for transplants

[TheMilesHome]

04:26 PM on 11/09/2010

Now this is a republican I can get behind. I'll give it time. If it winds up being a dog and pony show, I'll be there with critique.

Until then, if I don't give it a chance, I'm as bad as the Washington Right wing.

[Nunca]

04:15 PM on 11/09/2010

Some mildly good new about Michigan? Take what you can get.

[hs3144]

03:49 PM on 11/09/2010

You've got to be kidding....Dillon isn't a Democrat by any stretch of the imagination. And at the same time, the big change that Snyder is bringing happens to be a staff from the Engler administration. They guy that gutted the State and left to live elsewhere. Pretend this is good, but be realistic.

[progressivegreg]

03:51 PM on 11/09/2010

Couldn't you let me live in my fantasy that things were going to improve for a few minutes anyway? LOL

[hs3144]

04:25 PM on 11/09/2010

sorry...no

[innerpuppie]

03:42 PM on 11/09/2010

Those of us in MI - regardless of political party affiliation - want Rick to do whatever it takes to get our beautiful state out of the mess it has been in for the last 8 years. If cuts are necessary, then they are necessary. You can't keep giving and giving when there is nothing to give. It will be rough, really rough, but sooner or later you have to 'pay the piper' and it's Michigan's time to settle up.

[redraspberry]

03:48 PM on 11/09/2010

Illinois is right behind you, but Mike Madigan is standing in the way.

[Lahti213]

03:36 PM on 11/09/2010

This is excellent! Differing opinions in that same state government will definitely help keep everyone on the straight and narrow. This should be a precedent for others in the future. Kudos.

[ManwithaParachute]

03:33 PM on 11/09/2010

He won't sound reasonable when he proposes doing away with Unemployment Insurance, Workman's Comp, Medicaid, SCHIP.....just wait for it. Any moment now.

[JackND]

03:20 PM on 11/09/2010

I hear that someone canned that assistant AG that was stalking a college students.

Good news out of Michigan this week.

[progressivegreg]

03:50 PM on 11/09/2010

The states Attorney General (Mike Cox) tried to avoid firing the stalker saying it was his 1st amendment rights. Cox (among a field of 4 or 5) ran against Snyder for the Republican nod for Governor. I'm a Democrat but crossed over in the primary to try and make sure one of the neocons didn't get the nod to run as a Repub. Snyder shows promise if he continues this trend!

[JackND]

03:19 PM on 11/09/2010

I didn't hear a lot about Rick during the election season, which is probably a good thing. It hints that he isn't newsworthily nutso.

Apparently that's the case.

[hrc04]

03:18 PM on 11/09/2010

Michigan's in trouble, they need all the help they can get. Good move, Gov-elect.

[cuardai]

03:12 PM on 11/09/2010

I wish him well, he sounds like a reasonable guy, now let us hope that the Tea Party crowd gives him a chance before they start the screaming matches.

[mountaingal]

03:05 PM on 11/09/2010

Way to go, Rick.

[cigi]

02:10 PM on 11/09/2010

A "Moderate Republican", I am truly awed and I wish this new Governor the best and hopefully, with a sane and logical approach to their State problems they will get out of the economic downturn successfully. Perhaps, we are the on the brink of the demise of the extremes on both sides and the move toward a more civil approach to Government. The pendulum does swing both ways!

[drkazmd65]

03:24 PM on 11/09/2010

Once upon a time - the reasonable Republicans were the majority within that party.

I was a kid then,... before Reagan,... but I do remember enough about Nixon to remember he started things like the EPA,...

[jussaying]

02:09 PM on 11/09/2010

you are in big trouble mister. Once the teabaggers and repubs get wind that you made a decision based on the good of your state and its people, and without putting politics first, they will have to haul you back to the woodshed.