Sunday’s Michigan Democratic Party endorsement convention was not the meltdown that some partisans feared, but just as the Dems stumble around trying to reach some kind of post-convention unity, a national progressive group is moving into the state and promising to shake things up.

The Cobo Center confab was raucous but an intra-party implosion was avoided largely due to Dana Nessel’s strength among convention-goers. The outspoken candidate for attorney general, the obvious favorite of the party’s progressive left-wing, Nessel apparently won the endorsement vote by a wide margin – so much so that her relatively centrist opponent, Pat Miles, conceded before the final vote tally was announced.

Miles, a former federal prosecutor from west Michigan, graciously urged his supporters to embrace Nessel’s presumed general election candidacy forthrightly, without conditions. That moment of détente, in a state Democratic Party known for its political cannibalism, lasted about 12 hours.

As some high-level party activists engaged in some snarky Monday morning quarterbacking, a new progressive movement announced its formation and said it was headed to Michigan to “change the face of the electorate.” This liberal coalition consists of Planned Parenthood, the Center for Community Change Action, the Color of Change PAC and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Known as Win Justice, these progressives boast that they will spend $30 million to reach out to 2.5 million voters in Florida, Michigan, and Nevada at the grassroots level, mobilizing and energizing like-minded advocates in advance of the November 2018 elections.

National progressives may have a different agenda

That sounds like a plus to liberal Democrats, except that the boxes to be checked by Win Justice for political candidates, in order to gain their support, are bound to enflame continuing areas of Dem disunity in Michigan over the coming months. The coalition said they will focus on people of color, women, young people and union supporters. In April 2018 in Michigan, that mix presents a chilly shudder among many of the party rank and file.

First, the easy part – women. Michigan Dems may emerge as a national leader in gender politics as the party’s endorsements for the four top statewide offices are all females: U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Gretchen Whitmer for governor, Nessel for AG and Jocelyn Benson for secretary of state.

As for young people, Sunday’s convention seemed heavily populated with Millennials, many of whom remain loyal to Sen. Bernie Sanders and left-wing causes.

But those newcomers are not necessarily the traditional union supporters coveted by Win Justice. In fact, much of the burgeoning progressive movement within the state party suspiciously view big labor as big bosses trying to maintain their control over party politics.

This morning, one rogue progressive leader went so far as to lament the uncontested convention endorsement for secretary of state Jocelyn Benson – a candidate that countless Dem activists consider the party’s strongest nominee for any state office on the November ballot.

UAW, AFL-CIO may be little help to Whitmer

Meanwhile, Nessel pulled off the nearly unthinkable by defeating a candidate (Miles) backed by the UAW and the AFL-CIO. In past decades, that would have made Miles’ nomination a sure thing at a convention. But, just as mid-April 2018 brings snow and ice storms, these are not normal times in Michigan. I would imagine mainstream Democratic Party veterans associated with the UAW or AFL are at this moment still trying to get over their shell-shock while simultaneously nursing their overnight hangovers.

Most importantly, the state party has a potential race problem on its hands. The defeat of Miles, an African-American, means that the Dems, as of now, have an all-white team of top candidates for November.

What does that lack of diversity mean for a party that normally places a dramatic emphasis on a “balanced ticket?” It means that a heated debate has been raging on Facebook all day among agitated party activists about this: Who did what to whom at the convention? Some Detroit Democrats are dismayed, warning that this emerging ticket will generate little enthusiasm in the Motor City. More specifically, worried Dems are debating online about which person of color should gain the last open slot – for lieutenant governor.

One more thing to fight about.

Numerous names are being tossed about – all men. Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon was, not too long ago, labeled the likely choice. But now the internal tussle for that slot seems wide open. After all, more than a year has passed since Whitmer, the former state Senate Minority Leader declared her candidacy and instantly emerged as the Dems’ gubernatorial frontrunner.

Yet, polls still indicate that her presence among Detroit area Democrats is woefully inadequate. Those surveys continue to show that even the basics – Whitmer’s name ID – remains just above the level where one-fourth of regional voters have any idea who she is.

What’s more, Whitmer’s sudden embrace from the UAW and AFL takes on a whole new resonance after Sunday’s convention.

Overall, Michigan Democrats remain torn. The Donald Trump victory here in 2016 remains an undeniable source of lingering bitterness. Those left-wingers who in 2016 passed on voting for Hillary Clinton or foolishly cast their ballot for Green Party candidate Jill Stein still serve as a thorn in the side of state party chair Brandon Dillon. Nessel’s victory on Sunday flows within that same vein.

The Michigan Democrats’ inability to win state elections, which became obvious in 2014, is supposedly repaired in 2018. But Sanders-style politics offers the Michigan Republicans all kinds of opportunities, among independents and especially among a wide array of voters in northern Michigan.

The 2018 Blue Wave anticipated by Democrats across the nation may be real, but in Michigan, if Dems don’t unify around a moderate political agenda, that wave will never reach the beach.

 

Photo: WZZM screenshot

 

Recent Posts: