Susan Demas, editor and publisher of the Inside Michigan
Politics newsletter, interviewed Attorney General Bill Schuette the other day
and found him in a fairly gregarious mood in the middle of his book tour,
promoting the publication of “Big Lessons from a Small Town.”

Demas asked the Republican AG, an almost certain
candidate for governor in 2018, what future role he sees for retiring
Congresswoman Candice Miller, a Harrison Township Republican.

Here’s a small portion of that Inside Michigan Politics
(subscription only) interview:

IMP: Do you
think Congresswoman Candice Miller should run for U.S. Senate in 2018 (against Democratic
Sen. Debbie Stabenow)?

Schuette: I
really like Candice and I’ve known her since she was Harrison Twp. supervisor.
So I’m a big fan of Candice. So what she ends up doing, I’m not sure. I like
Candice a lot.

So, here’s a reality check: Schuette may have known
Miller when she was a township supervisor and he was a moderate Republican
congressman from Midland in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But at that time they
represented two very different versions of Republicanism – Schuette with
ties to the fading Millikenites, Miller as a tough-talking conservative.

Here’s the next piece of Demas’ interview with Schuette:

IMP: She’s got
a background on the Homeland Security Committee, been in Congress for years —
could this (a Senate run) be a good transition?

Schuette: I’ve
not talked to her about that. But whatever she does, I think it will be fun and
I hope to help her in any way I can.

IMP: Unless she’s
running against you (for governor).

Schuette:
(Laughs). Yeah, again, I don’t worry about that. That’s one of the things you
can’t control, right? But I like Candice a lot. We’ve really known each other a
long time and she’s an outstanding leader.

Those who know her best say that Miller tired of the
constant flying back and forth to Washington and wanted to spend more time at
home with her aging husband, Don, a former judge and commander of the Selfridge
Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township. The prospect of Miller running
for Senate in three years seems remote, at best.

After she abruptly announced her intentions in March to
step down from Congress — with no particular plans for the future — at the GOP’s Mackinac
Island conference last month Miller suddenly punctuated the idea that she might
run for governor. And the rapid rise in the lawmaker’s production of congressional press
releases in recent weeks suggests that her interest may be for real.

But if the ’18 gubernatorial race on the Republican side
becomes a contest between an outspoken woman, Miller, and two guys – Schuette and
Lt. Gov. Brian Calley – you can bet that the gender factor would cause the AG
to quickly drop all of his schmoozing of Miller.

Like her a lot? Uh, not so much, not anymore.

 

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