Bill Schuette called this morning to object to my Tuesday blog post (a revised version
is offered below) that pointed out the two glowing reviews on Amazon of his new
book were written by two twentysomethings with ties to the AG.
Specifically,
Schuette and his right-hand man, Rusty Hills, scolded me for including some
snarky details about one of the two reader-reviewers, a young woman who is
among the elite list of Jeb Bush supporters in Michigan, a list that Schuette
compiled and promoted on Facebook.
Schuette
said the woman (who I have since decided not to name) deserves an apology
because she is not a public figure and she is not an AG employee or “underling.”
Apparently
her Facebook page contains outdated information that indicates she had attended
Oakland University and works at an Auburn Hills bar.Hills
said the woman graduated from OU, no longer works at the bar, and is attending
law school at Michigan State University.
on that information, I provide this edited version of the original blog:
As
if term-limited Attorney General Bill Schuette could not appear more
transparent in his PR offensive leading up to a run for governor, he has
engaged in a typically pretentious tactic normally reserved for presidential
candidates.
He
has written a book, similar to an autobiography, that paints his picture
as one who learned great leadership skills in small town America.
the number of Americans interested in Schuette’s Midland-based life story would
amount to no more than the hundreds. But the Republican AG’s “life lessons
learned” book, which went on sale this weekend, includes two glowing, five-star
reviews on Amazon.com.
are these potentially influential big fans of the Schuette book, “Big Lessons
from a Small Town?”Well,
they are two twenty-somethings who may have a distinct interest in cozying up
to Schuette, the emerging gubernatorial candidate.
a young woman, is listed among the elite endorsements of Jeb Bush for president
on a Facebook page created by Schuette, the leader of the Bush campaign in
Michigan.Her
Amazon review of the AG’s book said:“The
lessons and values in this books (sic) are something that we all should try to
incorporate into our daily lives!”
comes from Carter Bundy of Flushing, who has staked his claim to a political
career by latching onto Schuette — first as a Michigan campaign staffer for
Mitt Romney (Schuette’s presidential choice in 2012), and now as a
taxpayer-paid staffer in Schuette’s AG office.Here
is Bundy’s glowing review on Amazon:”The
book, which Schuette acknowledges in the preface is kind of like “Chicken Soup
for the Political Soul,”… is a great read. Looks like I know what I’m
getting everyone for #Christmas!”Both
reviews appeared on Oct. 4, the day the book went on sale online.
Obviously,
politicians who line up their political allies to publicly praise their books
or speeches or policies is not new. But for Schuette to encourage two such lightweights
to try to boost his book sales on Amazon is pretty lame.
