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Tag: Gretchen Whitmer

  • Gov Whitmer says America ‘ready for a woman president,’ contrasting Michelle Obama

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    Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she believes America is ready for a woman president, pushing back on recent comments by former first lady Michelle Obama, who said U.S. voters were not ready to elect a woman to the White House.

    In an interview with NPR released on Tuesday, Whitmer said she has “love” for the former first lady and “the last thing I want to do is disagree with her,” but that she has a different perspective.

    “I think America is ready for a woman president,” Whitmer said. “The question comes down to a choice between two people, and what we saw in this last election, while Kamala Harris didn’t beat President Trump, we saw women get elected across the country.”

    “We saw women win up and down the ballot in hard, important states to win, so I do think there’s an appetite,” she added. “I just, for whatever reason, we have not had a woman president yet. I think we will at some point in the near future.”

    MICHELLE OBAMA SAYS AMERICA ‘NOT READY’ FOR WOMAN PRESIDENT: ‘WE SAW IN THIS PAST ELECTION’

    Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she believes America is ready for a woman president. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

    The governor cited the election victories last year for Democratic Govs. Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherill in New Jersey, as well as Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., in 2024.

    In November, Obama said Americans are “not ready” to elect a woman to the White House, pointing to former Vice President Kamala Harris’ election loss to President Donald Trump in the last presidential election.

    “As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready,” the former first lady said at the Brooklyn Academy of Music at the time while promoting her book, “The Look.”

    NANCY PELOSI THINKS A WOMAN WILL BE ELECTED PRESIDENT, BUT ‘MAYBE NOT’ IN HER LIFETIME

    Barack and Michelle Obama

    Former first lady Michelle Obama said Americans are “not ready” to elect a woman to the White House. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

    “That’s why I’m like, don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You’re not ready for a woman. You are not … We’ve got a lot of growing up to do, and there’s still, sadly, a lot of men who do not feel like they can be led by a woman, and we saw it,” she added.

    Pressed on whether Harris lost to Trump in the presidential election because she is a woman, Whitmer responded: “I don’t think it was just gender, no.”

    Whitmer, who is term limited and cannot seek a third term as governor, said she does not currently have plans to run for another office.

    She has been floated as a potential presidential candidate in 2028, but the governor said her focus remains on serving Michigan and helping her party’s candidates win the upcoming midterm elections.

    Trump and Harris shake hands

    Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she does not think former Vice President Kamala Harris lost to President Donald Trump just because she is a woman. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

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    Asked about how Democrats could win in the midterms this year, Whitmer pointed to her gubernatorial campaign’s decision to remain “focused on the fundamentals.”

    “I don’t think Michigan is unique in that,” Whitmer said. “I think every person in this country wants and expects government to make their lives better, and so that’s been our formula here in Michigan and I think that can be replicated everywhere successfully.”

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  • Is Gretchen Whitmer Bailing on 2028 Run? | RealClearPolitics

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    California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s roaring start to the 2028 presidential election may already be scaring away potential competitors.

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    Ellie Gardey Holmes, American Spectator

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  • FBI Thwarts Possible Halloween Terror Attack – LAmag

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    Kash Patel said the FBI has thwarted a potential Halloween weekend terrorist attack in Michigan with multiple would-be jihadi arrested

    FBI Director Kash Patel said that several suspects hellbent on committing an act of terror in Michigan were arrested, interrupting what homeland security officials call a jihadi plot.

    White House Senior Director for Counterterrorism Seb Gorka wrote on social media that federal agents “disrupted a Jihadi terror plot in Detroit timed for Halloween when innocent children should be enjoying themselves Trick or Treating. The threat is real.”

    A federal source told Los Angeles that at least five people, including a teenager, were taken into custody at several locations after search warrants were executed at two Dearborn addresses, according to the city’s police department who said in a statement:  “the FBI conducted operations in the City of Dearborn earlier this morning,” in a statement that emphasized “there is no threat to the community at this time.”

    A third warrant was executed in Inkster, according to the police there, who posted on Facebook that stated federal agents were working in its jurisdiction.

    Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Friday, “As details continue to develop, I am grateful for the swift action of the FBI and MSP protecting Michiganders.”

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    The Department of Justice has not yet identified the suspects or announced federal charges against them. In May, the DOJ announced charges against a 19-year-old Michigan man who was an active member of the National Guar who was allegedly planning to attack a U.S. military base in the U.S. on behalf of ISIS.

    In that case, Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, confided in an undercover FBI agent a plan “he had personally devised and formulated to conduct an armed attack and mass shooting on the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command (“TACOM”) facility at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan,” according to a criminal complaint.

    Ammam Said pledged loyalty to ISIS in 2024 when he was active member of the Michigan National Guard, according to a criminal complaint
    Credit: Department of Justice Exhibit

    Investigators say Said played a video on his cellular phone that depicted Said performing a “bayah” pledge of loyalty to the “Chalifa” of ISIS in 2024 while he was still an active member of the Michigan National Guard. According to a court docket, Said’s attorneys are in negotiations for a possible plea deal with the government.

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    Michele McPhee

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  • Students face new cellphone restrictions in 17 states as school year begins

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    Jamel Bishop is seeing a big change in his classrooms as he begins his senior year at Doss High School in Louisville, Kentucky, where cellphones are now banned during instructional time.

    In previous years, students often weren’t paying attention and wasted class time by repeating questions, the teenager said. Now, teachers can provide “more one-on-one time for the students who actually need it.”

    Kentucky is one of 17 states and the District of Columbia starting this school year with new restrictions, bringing the total to 35 states with laws or rules limiting phones and other electronic devices in school. This change has come remarkably quickly: Florida became the first state to pass such a law in 2023.

    Both Democrats and Republicans have taken up the cause, reflecting a growing consensus that phones are bad for kids’ mental health and take their focus away from learning, even as some researchers say the issue is less clear-cut.

    “Anytime you have a bill that’s passed in California and Florida, you know you’re probably onto something that’s pretty popular,” Georgia state Rep. Scott Hilton, a Republican, told a forum on cellphone use last week in Atlanta.

    Phones are banned throughout the school day in 18 of the states and the District of Columbia, although Georgia and Florida impose such “bell-to-bell” bans only from kindergarten through eighth grade. Another seven states ban them during class time, but not between classes or during lunch. Still others, particularly those with traditions of local school control, mandate only a cellphone policy, believing districts will take the hint and sharply restrict phone access.

    Students see pros and cons

    For students, the rules add new school-day rituals, like putting phones in magnetic pouches or special lockers.

    Students have been locking up their phones during class at McNair High School in suburban Atlanta since last year. Audreanna Johnson, a junior, said “most of them did not want to turn in their phones” at first, because students would use them to gossip, texting “their other friends in other classes to see what’s the tea and what’s going on around the building.”

    That resentment is “starting to ease down” now, she said. “More students are willing to give up their phones and not get distracted.”

    But there are drawbacks — like not being able to listen to music when working independently in class. “I’m kind of 50-50 on the situation because me, I use headphones to do my schoolwork. I listen to music to help focus,” she said.

    Some parents want constant contact

    In a survey of 125 Georgia school districts by Emory University researchers, parental resistance was cited as the top obstacle to regulating student use of social and digital media.

    Johnson’s mother, Audrena Johnson, said she worries most about knowing her children are safe from violence at school. School messages about threats can be delayed and incomplete, she said, like when someone who wasn’t a McNair student got into a fight on school property, which she learned about when her daughter texted her during the school day.

    “My child having her phone is very important to me, because if something were to happen, I know instantly,” Johnson said.

    Many parents echo this — generally supporting restrictions but wanting a say in the policymaking and better communication, particularly about safety — and they have a real need to coordinate schedules with their children and to know about any problems their children may encounter, said Jason Allen, the national director of partnerships for the National Parents Union.

    “We just changed the cellphone policy, but aren’t meeting the parents’ needs in regards to safety and really training teachers to work with students on social emotional development,” Allen said.

    Research remains in an early stage

    Some researchers say it’s not yet clear what types of social media may cause harm, and whether restrictions have benefits, but teachers “love the policy,” according to Julie Gazmararian, a professor of public health at Emory University who does surveys and focus groups to research the effects of a phone ban in middle school grades in the Marietta school district near Atlanta.

    “They could focus more on teaching,” Gazmararian said. “There were just not the disruptions.”

    Another benefit: More positive interactions among students. “They were saying that kids are talking to each other in the hallways and in the cafeteria,” she said. “And in the classroom, there is a noticeably lower amount of discipline referrals.”

    Gazmararian is still compiling numbers on grades and discipline, and cautioned that her work may not be able to answer whether bullying has been reduced or mental health improved.

    Social media use clearly correlates with poor mental health, but research can’t yet prove it causes it, according to Munmun De Choudhury, a Georgia Tech professor who studies this issue.

    “We need to be able to quantify what types of social media use are causing harm, what types of social media use can be beneficial,” De Choudhury said.

    A few states reject rules

    Some state legislatures are bucking the momentum.

    Wyoming’s Senate in January rejected requiring districts to create some kind of a cellphone policy after opponents argued that teachers and parents need to be responsible.

    And in the Michigan House in July, a Republican-sponsored bill directing schools to ban phones bell-to-bell in grades K-8 and during high school instruction time was defeated in July after Democrats insisted on upholding local control. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, among multiple governors who made restricting phones in schools a priority this year, is still calling for a bill to come to her desk.

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    Associated Press writers Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, and Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed.

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  • Critics call out new data center over potential threat to residents’ energy bills: ‘No one voted for that’

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    Michigan has emerged as a leader in the clean-energy transition in the United States. However, an “offramp” provision in its 2023 climate and clean energy laws could hinder the state’s plans and is raising questions about whether utility consumers will end up paying the price.

    What’s happening?

    In November 2023, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation aimed at improving public health, protecting resources like drinking water, and driving down costs for consumers. As part of that plan, Michigan announced it would generate 100% of its energy from clean sources by 2040.

    Yet the bill included an important caveat: Dirty energy plants could remain active if the state wasn’t generating enough power to meet demand. As detailed by Inside Climate News, data center development in the Great Lakes State is stressing the grid and could trigger this “offramp.”

    Michigan’s largest utility provider, DTE, is in negotiations with major tech companies to provide power for new data centers, and it says building a new gas plant may be necessary to meet demand, according to the report.

    Why is this important?

    At this time, it is unclear whether residents will shoulder the burden of paying for electric expansion costs caused by data center development.

    Chris Gilmer-Hill, a policy associate with the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, explained to ICN that this was a key reason why opponents of 2024 tax incentives for data centers fought so hard against the legislation.

    While data centers can create local jobs and are increasingly relying on renewable energy — with some arguing they could even speed up a clean-energy transition — they also have the potential to drive dirty energy development, as the case in Michigan demonstrates. Studies have linked air pollution from dirty fuels to debilitating illnesses and premature death.

    “Looking back to the fight over the incentives, this is absolutely what DTE wanted to happen,” Gilmer-Hill said. “DTE’s theory is if they can find a way to easily jack up demand that has to be met no matter what, then they can build coal or methane or gas plants.”

    What’s being done about this?

    Douglas Jester, a partner at energy consulting firm 5 Lakes Energy, told ICN that the offramp doesn’t change the obligation for companies to try to comply with Michigan’s clean and renewable energy standards.

    However, critics are wary of how things will play out because DTE has donated millions of dollars to Gov. Whitmer and the state Democratic Party. According to the Detroit Metro Times, DTE has also contributed to campaigns for 138 of the state’s 148 senators and representatives.

    “There were multiple attempts made to protect our climate goals and ratepayers, and those did not move because DTE controls the state Legislature with its contributions,” Voters Not Politicians executive director Christy McGillivray told ICN.

    “It is not popular to hike up energy rates so Silicon Valley billionaires build out infrastructure to raid our entire government — no one voted for that,” she added.

    You can contact your representatives if you want to make your voice heard on this matter.

    Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don’t miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.

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  • Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

    Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — ABC’s “This Week” — Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.; Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

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    NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich.

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    CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio; Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky.; Anne Milgram, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee.

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    CNN’s “State of the Union” — Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.; Govs. J.B. Pritzker, D-Ill., and Chris Sununu, R-N.H.

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    “Fox News Sunday” — Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Republican vice presidential nominee; Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.

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  • Kamala Harris’s jubilant Detroit rally ends in meltdown

    Kamala Harris’s jubilant Detroit rally ends in meltdown

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    Democrats have been delirious with joy ever since President Joe Biden finally ended his untenable re-election campaign last month, making way for a feel-good ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and her freshly announced running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. If they win in November, she will be the first woman to be elected president, while he is a plainspoken former schoolteacher and football coach with a surprisingly progressive record as a lawmaker, catapulting to viral fame in recent weeks for simply saying what many of us have been thinking: Republicans Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are “weird.”

    More than that, with a palpable momentum, the pair seem to be in about as strong of a position as possible to keep Trump from returning to the White House and enacting the terrifying Project 2025, a far-right plan to replace the government with a Christian nationalist autocracy.

    Eager to make history and defeat Trump, liberals of all stripes swiftly coalesced around the new ticket, which drew a reported 15,000 supporters to a Wednesday rally at Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus — what Walz said was the largest of the campaign so far.

    However, the electric atmosphere — which reached a crescendo with Harris descending the Air Force One to the jubilant sounds of Beyoncé’s “Freedom” — soured with more than a dozen medical emergencies throughout the event, a curt clash between Harris and antiwar protesters, and a logistical transportation meltdown that left thousands of supporters stranded on the side of the road for hours.

    “We Minnesotans … we’re a stoic people, of few words,” Walz joked. “But holy hell, can you throw a party here in Michigan!”

    @metrotimes #kamalaharris #2024election #detroit #michigan ♬ original sound – Detroit Metro Times

    The candidates were joined on stage by a revolving door of high-profile supporters, including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, UAW President Shawn Fain, Senator Debbie Stabenow, and other members of congress, who all gave rousing speeches. But each was interrupted by calls from the crowd for medics as people apparently became dehydrated in the summer heat.

    “Thank you for caring for your neighbors,” Walz said.

    Wayne County is also home to one of the largest concentrations of people of Middle Eastern origin. Many of them joined a movement urging voters to choose “uncommitted” over Biden in the primary election in protest of Israel’s U.S.-backed attack on Gaza, which has has resulted in at least 40,000 deaths and possibly up to 186,000, many of them Palestinian women and children. The Uncommitted Movement drew an eye-popping 100,000 votes in Michigan and spread to other states across the country, allowing it to send delegates to the Democratic National Convention later this month to advocate for a ceasefire.

    Seeing as the Uncommitted Movement could seemingly make or break the 2024 election, Metro Times was curious if Harris and Walz would speak on the matter. A group in the crowd attempted to force the issue, starting a chant of “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide — we won’t vote for genocide.” A visibly agitated Harris then tried to shut them down, saying, “I am speaking now. … If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that, otherwise I’m speaking.”

    Instead of, say, using the opportunity to show support for Israel as well as concern for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as both Harris and Walz have done in the past, it was not brought up again.

    Harris did reportedly address the issue with a bit more grace behind closed doors, however, as founders of the Uncommitted Movement later said they briefly spoke with both candidates at the rally. According to a press release, the organizers “requested a formal meeting with Vice President Harris to further discuss their demands of an arms embargo and a permanent ceasefire,” adding that Harris “shared her sympathies and expressed an openness to a meeting.”

    click to enlarge

    Lee DeVito

    As darkness fell, Harris-Walz supporters were left stranded on the side of the road for hours amid a transportation meltdown.

    Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. When the rally ended around 8:30 p.m., there appeared to be no coordinated plan to direct attendees back onto the buses that would return them to the various offsite parking lots recommended by the campaign organizers. The situation quickly spiraled into chaos, with police giving conflicting instructions, hard-to-find buses stuck in gridlock traffic, and thousands of rally-goers left stranded on the side of the road as darkness set and mosquitos descended.

    It took Metro Times two and a half hours to get back to our car, following the three-hour rally. The Harris-Walz campaign does not appear to have a public-facing email to reach for comment.

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    Lee DeVito

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  • Michigan program unlocks free college education

    Michigan program unlocks free college education

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    Michigan has established the “Sixty by 30 Goal” aiming for at least 60% of Michiganders to obtain a degree or skill certificate by 2030.

    A new $23 billion education budget plan in Michigan is opening the door for recent high school graduates to attend a community or tribal college, tuition-free. The “Michigan Achievement Scholarship, Community College Guarantee” was signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in July — and is expected to save over 18,000 students almost $5,000 each year.

    Michelle Richard, deputy director for higher education with the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential, said this new education initiative is a real game-changer for every high school student in the state

    “So if you graduated the class of 2024, or the class of 2023, you are still eligible to enroll this fall at your local community college and attend tuition free,” she said.

    Students who qualify for the federal Pell Grant can get an extra $1,000 from the state to help with additional college costs like books and supplies.

    Richard stressed that if a student wants to start community college this fall, they need to complete the free application for federal student aid on the MiLEAP website.

    Those 21 years old or older can also take advantage of the tuition free option. Richard said $52 million is available in a program called “Michigan Reconnect,” designed for older students.

    “If you are in the workforce and you’re thinking about making a change, Michigan Reconnect offers a tuition free pathway to earn that skills certificate or degree at your local community college — and same application,” she added.

    The state of Michigan has also established the “Sixty by 30 Goal” aiming for at least 60% of Michiganders to obtain a degree or skill certificate by 2030.

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    Chrystal Blair, Michigan News Connection

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  • Michigan leads nation in toxic methane emissions from landfills

    Michigan leads nation in toxic methane emissions from landfills

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    The Environmental Protection Agency is investigating underreported methane emissions from landfills nationwide, and a recent report names Michigan as a major offender.

    Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and a key focus in combating climate change. Experts warn methane emissions are spiraling out of control as they leak from landfills.

    The advocacy group Industrious Labs reports Michigan landfills emit enough methane to equal 11 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, resulting in more waste per capita than any other state.

    Kathrine Blauvelt, circular economy campaign director for Industrious Labs, highlighted the issue.

    “Your landfills take in a lot of waste from out of state,” Blauvelt pointed out. “You also have one of the lowest recycling rates in the nation. So, that brings Michigan to the place of being sixth in the whole country in the highest landfill methane emissions.”

    Blauvelt noted the good news is, the EPA and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hold the pen to introduce tougher requirements for methane emissions standards, particularly with the clean energy legislation signed into law last year in Michigan.

    Blauvelt said the EPA looked at dozens of inspection reports, which revealed a large amount of unchecked methane emissions at landfills in Michigan. She warned the situation is likely to be even worse than the numbers currently indicate, due to the emergence of what she calls “methane super-emitter events.”

    “That’s your really, really large — you can see it from space, you can see it from air — emissions of methane,” Blauvelt explained. “Those are now being detected across the globe by technology.”

    Blauvelt also mentioned the EPA only requires landfills to conduct methane leak inspections four times a year, using what she described as inadequate methods.

    “They have a human being do it, walking across, you can imagine, many, many miles,” Blauvelt observed. “It could hot, right? That can be dangerous for the person to walk a landfill. So, it’s not surprising that landfills are missing these big methane leaks.”

    She argued employing drones, satellites, and other technology would help to safely and more accurately locate methane leaks.

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    Chrystal Blair, Michigan News Connection

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  • New Michigan law requires homeowners associations to allow rooftop solar

    New Michigan law requires homeowners associations to allow rooftop solar

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    This coverage is made possible through a partnership between IPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.

    People who want to install solar panels on their roofs have to consider a lot: sunlight, cost, and coordinating with contractors and utilities.

    Tens of millions of people across the country also have to think about their homeowners association.

    In Michigan, a new law aims to remove that barrier by telling those associations they have to allow rooftop solar.

    The Homeowners’ Energy Policy Act was signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday.

    “We wanted to find a way to … empower homeowners to make those decisions themselves,” said state Rep. Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton), the bill’s main sponsor. “I think that this is an important step for a lot of people.”

    The law gives many HOA members the power to install rooftop solar and an array of other energy savings measures, from clotheslines to EV charging equipment to heat pumps. It requires HOAs to adopt a solar energy policy within a year.

    And they can’t enforce standards that increase installation costs by more than $1,000 or decrease energy output by more than 10 percent. The law is geared toward single-family homes, and doesn’t apply to shared roofs and common areas.

    Supporters say it’s a step toward making rooftop solar and other energy efficiency measures more accessible to many in Michigan who belong to an HOA.

    “We thought that this was a very important bill, because there are thousands of homeowners associations across the state,” said John Freeman, the executive director of the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association. “From our point of view, it was completely absurd that … by moving into a neighborhood which is governed by a homeowners association’s agreement, that homeowners would not be able to install solar on the roof in order to generate their own electricity and to help reduce carbon pollution.”

    Among others

    With the new law, Michigan joins over two dozen other states that have some form of “solar access laws,” including neighbors like Illinois and Wisconsin, which aim to reign in an association’s say over solar in their community.

    Homeowners associations generally seek to maintain a neighborhood’s property value by enacting and enforcing various rules, called codes, covenants, and restrictions. Along with providing maintenance and other services, HOAs can use these rules to shape a neighborhood’s aesthetic, like requiring houses to be a certain color or that gardens look a certain way. Violations could result in fines or even foreclosure.

    And their rules can prevent people from pursuing climate friendly practices, like planting native species and switching to more sustainable energy systems, adding to the logistical and financial barriers to residential solar.

    Dan Kramer, a biology professor at Michigan State University, co-authored a 2022 study in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning on how homeowners associations hinder — and help — sustainable residential development in mid-Michigan.

    “They could be bridges to more sustainable residential development rather than barriers, as they are now,” he said. “And it just takes a little change, I think, of perception and maybe a little bit more open thinking on the part of HOAs.”

    Kramer started researching HOAs because he had wanted to build a house in mid-Michigan, something small and energy efficient with renewable energy and native plants instead of a big green lawn.

    “I kept running into this problem that my house is too small, or my plan to use solar panels, or my plan to do the landscaping that I wanted was unacceptable to the HOA, and so I would just have to keep looking,” he said. “So this happened repeatedly in my own kind of personal search for land to build a home.”

    Kramer’s case isn’t unique.

    HOA concerns

    HOAs are becoming increasingly common across the country, and in Michigan roughly 1.4 million people belong to an association, according to the Foundation for Community Association Institute.

    Some HOAs do support sustainability efforts. For instance, associations in Arizona have promoted desert-friendly landscaping and regulated water use. But Kramer said the cases they found in mid-Michigan were rare.

    “I don’t think that HOAs have any kind of anti-environmental or anti-sustainability agenda,” he said. “I think it really is more tied to the idea of a neat and tidy neighborhood. And that’s related to home value.”

    Opponents of the new law worry that it’s eroding the rights of an association to determine what happens in their community. That includes the Community Associations Institute, a national organization that advocates for HOA interests.

    Attorney Matt Heron, a co-chair of the institute’s Michigan branch, said the law could also complicate maintenance and repair of roofs.

    “You’re going to have communities that may lose their insurance because they’re not going to have the ability to insure everything,” he said, adding that it would have been better to encourage rather than mandate energy efficiency measures.

    Under the new law HOAs do have some say in these projects, like limiting the panels’ height. And some associations were already accommodating solar, like the Ashland Park No. 1 Association in Traverse City, which has worked to get a system in place for residents that want solar panels.

    “We just didn’t think it was a smart move to try to limit people right now, when the government’s … trying to push renewables,” said Ben Brower, the association’s president, adding that they’re going to pay close attention to what they still have control over moving forward: “We don’t want it to blight or make the property look bad and hurt the values of the neighboring properties.”

    Michigan lags behind many other states in solar energy, and is “playing a lot of catch up,” said Allan O’Shea, the CEO of CBS Solar, a solar installation company based in the northern Michigan village of Copemish. He’s worked in the solar industry for decades, and while he’s had some good experiences with associations, there have also been problems.

    “We had an issue where they actually adopted a new law in the middle of [the process] to prevent solar from going in. And those are fighting words,” he said. “Not so much for us because we had to walk away from the project, but it really damaged the homeowner, the condo owner.”

    The landscape for solar in Michigan is changing; last November, the state passed a law requiring all of its electricity to come from “clean” sources by 2040, and it now allows more people to sell electricity from residential solar back to utilities. Federal incentives have also helped make it more affordable.

    For O’Shea, this new law is part of that change; some of his customers that were unable to install solar because of HOA restrictions are planning to get back to it.

    “It’s going to continue to normalize solar energy as another form, another power source that needs to be let into the mix,” he said.

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    Lee DeVito

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  • Point/Counterpoint: Hillary Clinton Is Polling Ahead Of Joe Biden vs. Did Somebody Say Hillary Clinton?

    Point/Counterpoint: Hillary Clinton Is Polling Ahead Of Joe Biden vs. Did Somebody Say Hillary Clinton?

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    Point: Hillary Clinton Is Polling Ahead Of Joe Biden

    Russell Kelley

    For Joe Biden, the next few days will be a make or break moment for his campaign. After a bad debate performance, many high-ranking officials and Democratic donors have called for him to bow out, and for another candidate, perhaps Kamala Harris, Gretchen Whitmer, or Gavin Newsom, to step up.

    Biden’s Approval Rating Skyrockets After Announcing He Taking Nation To The Circus

    But one name being floated around may surprise you. According to a recent survey, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is polling ahead of President Biden, and—

    Counterpoint: Did Somebody Say Hillary Clinton?

    Hillary Clinton

    Yoo-hoo! Oh, hello there. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I couldn’t help but overhear someone saying the name “Hillary Clinton,” and since I’m the one and only Hillary Clinton, I figured I’d pop in and see what all the fuss was about!

    So, what’s going on? Anything fun? Anything cool? Tell me, what can ol’ Hillary Clinton do for you today?

    Don’t be shy. You see, I love meeting regular, everyday Americans! I was just on my way to a Goldman Sachs conference when I decided to put my ear to this wall and listen to your conversation for five minutes straight. So, what can I do you for, stranger?

    Do you want a photo? Do you want to thank me for all I’ve done for women across the world and to lavish me with praise? Or do you want to tell me I should run for president?

    Wait, who said anything about running for president? Certainly not me. Unless you did? Did you? Did you say I should run for president?

    Did you say I should run for president? Did you say I should run for president?

    Seriously, don’t let me interrupt. You were just in the middle of what must have been a very important conversation. Especially if it involved you and the American people finally honoring my God-given right to ascend to the highest office in the United States of America and rule this nation with an iron fist.

    This is my fight song (hey)
    Take back my life song (hey)
    Prove I’m all right song (hey, ha)
    My power’s turned on (hey)
    Starting right now, I’ll be strong (hey)
    I’ll play my fight song (hey)
    And I don’t really care if nobody else believes (ha)
    ’Cause I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me

    Anywho! I’ve got to get going. But if anyone asks, I’m 76 years old, I remember all my grandchildren’s names, and I’m totally free for the next four years. If you need me, just close your eyes, say my name three times, and I will appear.

    Now, let’s Pokémon get me to the White House!

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  • If Biden drops out, who could replace him? A look at possible candidates

    If Biden drops out, who could replace him? A look at possible candidates

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    WASHINGTON — As questions grow about President Joe Biden’s future as the Democratic nominee in November’s election, some voters already have indicated their preferences for potential successors on the ticket.

    Kamala Harris

    Vice President Kamala Harris is seen as a likely top contender, according to polling after Thursday’s debate, where Biden gave a poor performance.

    In a potential matchup between Harris and former President Donald Trump, Harris and Trump were nearly tied with 42% supporting her and 43% supporting the former president, according to a Ipsos poll released Tuesday.

    The same poll, which interviewed 1,070 registered voters nationwide and had a margin of error of +/- 3.5%, found that Biden and Trump each had 40% support.

    RELATED: Biden privately signals ‘open mind’ on path forward, sees next few days as critical: Sources

    Another poll released by CNN Tuesday found that a matchup between the vice president and Trump resulted in a 45-47% split between Harris and Trump compared to the 43%-49% split between Biden and Trump.

    The CNN poll sampled 1,274 registered voters and had a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.

    Harris has been on the campaign trail touting Biden’s accomplishments and has backed the president since his debate.

    “Look, Joe Biden is our nominee. We beat Trump once, and we’re going to be him again,” she told CBS News Tuesday evening.

    Gretchen Whitmer

    Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who won reelection in 2022, has been seen as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate. She has pushed back against Republican critics including Trump, particularly ones who criticized her pandemic policies.

    The Ipsos poll had Whitmer trailing Trump 36% to 41% in a 2024 race while the CNN poll had her 42% to Trump’s 47%.

    Whitmer, who was scheduled to attend a meeting at the White House with the president and other Democratic governors Wednesday, defended Biden’s debate performance in a statement Friday.

    “Joe Biden is running to serve the American people. Donald Trump is running to serve Donald Trump. The difference between Joe Biden’s vision for making sure everyone in America has a fair shot and Donald Trump’s dangerous, self-serving plans will only get sharper as we head toward November,” she said.

    Gavin Newsom

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been a staunch Democrat on several national issues including women’s rights, immigration and the economy. He successfully won a recall election last year.

    In the Ipsos poll, Newsom fared 39% to Trump’s 42% and in the CNN poll he received 43% to the former president’s 48%.

    Newsom pushed back against calls from Democrats for Biden to step down in an interview with MSNBC shortly after Thursday’s debate.

    “I think it’s unhelpful and unnecessary,” he said. “We have to have the back of this president. You don’t turn your back because of one performance. What party does that?”

    Andy Beshear

    Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has been viewed as a rising star in the south after he won reelection in the deep red state last year.

    The Ipsos poll showed a Beshear-Trump match-up would result in a 36%-40% split between him and the former president. The CNN poll did not survey respondents about Beshear being a potential successor.

    Beshear said he did not want to talk about the speculation during an interview on CNN Tuesday.

    “My name coming up, it’s flattering as a person to hear, but I think it’s more about the good things going on in Kentucky,” he said. “And so while it’s nice to hear your name and things like that, I’m just proud of what we have done as a state. And the president and the vice president have been very helpful in making a lot of that happen.”

    J.B. Pritzker

    Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been a vocal Biden surrogate from the beginning of the 2024 campaign and has constantly criticized Trump over his far-right policies, rhetoric and his criminal conviction.

    The Ipsos poll found that 34% of voters would choose Pritzker if he were on the ticket versus 40% for Trump. Pritzker’s name wasn’t floated by CNN’s pollsters, however, he told the network Tuesday that Biden will be the Democratic nominee “unless he makes some other decision.”

    “For me anyway, my word is my bond. I honor my commitments. Joe Biden is going to be our nominee unless he decides otherwise,” Pritzker said. “I think that there’s a healthy conversation that will happen with the president, I hope, expressing what he intends to do going forward in the campaign and reassuring everybody that this is the right course.”

    Pete Buttigieg

    Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was one of the rising stars of the 2020 Democratic primary season both on the campaign trail and in debates.

    The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor was a major surrogate for Biden in 2020 after he bowed out of the race, going on several media appearances to tout Biden’s record and call out Trump’s performance.

    In the CNN poll, 43% of respondents picked Buttigieg compared to 47% for Trump. Ipsos did not float Buttigieg as a potential candidate in their poll.

    ALSO SEE: President Joe Biden to sit down with ABC News on Friday for first interview since debate

    He dismissed calls to remove Biden from the ticket during an interview with MSNBC Friday.

    “Joe Biden is our candidate and our president because he is the best person to lead this country forward,” he said.

    Michelle Obama

    Former first lady Michelle Obama has repeatedly said she has no interest in entering the presidential race for years. Her name, however, keeps coming up as a potential candidate.

    “At no point have I ever said, ‘I think I want to run.’ Ever,” Michelle Obama said in a 2023 interview with Oprah Winfrey. “Politics is hard. And the people who get into it, it’s just like marriage, it’s just like kids, you’ve got to want it. It’s got to be in your soul, because it is so important. It is not in my soul.”

    However, in the Ipsos poll, the former first lady appeared to strike a chord with some voters.

    Michelle Obama led Trump 50% to 39%.

    ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim and Brittany Shepherd contributed to this report.

    Copyright © 2024 ABC News Internet Ventures.

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    ABCNews

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  • Michigan boosts efforts to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes

    Michigan boosts efforts to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes

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    Michigan is home to 21% of the world’s fresh water, but in recent years the Great Lakes have had a problem with invasive carp.

    Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced on Monday that Michigan has signed an agreement in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Illinois to create the Brandon Road Interbasin Project — massively stepping up efforts to block pesky invasive fish from the Great Lakes.

    With $274 million in federal funds and $114 million in state funds secured for the first of three phases, the overall $1.15 billion project promises to make an impact.

    “The Great Lakes are the beating heart of Michigan’s economy,” Whitmer said in a press release. “Brandon Road will help us protect local communities and key industries, including fishing and boating, that support tens of thousands of good-paying jobs. I am grateful to Governor Pritzker in Illinois, the Army Corps of Engineers, and our champions in Congress for their long-term partnership on this monumental task. Together, we will get the job done so we can protect our lakes and power economic growth for generations to come.”

    Invasive carp, particularly bighead, silver, and black carp, are like the bullies of the fish world, pushing out other Great Lakes species such as lake whitefish, perch, and walleye. If these carp were to invade the Great Lakes basin, inland rivers and lakes would also be at risk. Additionally, the high-flying silver carp are known for their acrobatic leaps out of the water, sometimes crashing into boaters and causing injuries. Their antics have driven many boaters away from infested lakes, ruining fishing trips and fun on the water.

    The Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Illinois, is like the ultimate bouncer for the Great Lakes, ready to stop invasive carp in their tracks. The upcoming project will feature an elaborate series of deterrents to keep these unwelcome guests and other aquatic nuisance species out.

    “This agreement is a pivotal step forward in preventing the spread of harmful, invasive carp throughout our Great Lakes,” U.S. Senator Gary Peters said. “For years, invasive carp have threatened our environment, as well as key industries that rely on healthy Great Lakes to help power our state’s economy.”

    Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel added, “The Great Lakes hold countless memories for many of us, from catching our first fish to watching loved ones play on their shores. They are central to our Pure Michigan identity. This landmark agreement marks a significant victory in protecting these lakes from invasive, dangerous carp, ensuring the joy and beauty of these waters remain for all to enjoy.”

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    Layla McMurtrie

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  • Help us, Gretchen Whitmer. You’re our only hope.

    Help us, Gretchen Whitmer. You’re our only hope.

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    There’s no spinning it — Thursday night’s presidential debate was just plain painful to watch.

    Donald Trump spouted a firehouse of lies that President Joe Biden, plagued with a cough, was too frail and feeble to properly fend off. Too many clips saw Biden mumbling meandering non-sequiturs in a near-whisper or trailing off as he repeatedly lost his train of thought.

    Both candidates were cringe-inducing when faced with the task of discussing issues like abortion or immigration, and both also spent a disturbing and reckless amount of time talking about war. Incredibly, at one point, they even argued about who has the better golf game.

    Unsurprisingly, many Democrats are reportedly now freaking out with fresh concerns over Biden’s fitness for office, even though pundits like Ezra Klein and Jon Stewart were lampooned for raising this very issue months ago, in February. At 81, Biden is the oldest U.S. President ever.

    As soon as the debate ended, nearly the entire panel of anchors at host news organization CNN seemed to be in agreement that Biden’s performance was poor, with many suggesting he should drop out of the race for the good of the nation. It was a similar situation even at the typically Democrat-friendly MSNBC. We didn’t tune in, but we’re sure Fox News had an absolute field day with the clips.

    Other outlets joined the pile on, with The New York Times opinion section churning out at least five columns urging Biden to step down in the ensuing hours. (Sample headlines: “To Serve His Country, President Biden Should Leave the Race”; “Biden Cannot Go On Like This”; “The Best President of My Adult Life Needs to Withdraw”; “Is Biden Too Old? America Got Its Answer.”; and “Joe Biden Is a Good Man and a Good President. He Must Bow Out of the Race.”, in which the columnist confessed to weeping while watching the debate.)

    There’s no debate over the fact that Biden is vulnerable against Trump, 78, who the President and other Democrats maintain poses an urgent threat to democracy due to his role in the attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2021. Polls have found the candidates to be neck and neck, with Trump having an edge in swing states like Michigan.

    Of course, it’s too late for another Democratic candidate to formally run against Biden since the primary election is over (though we’ll save for another day a discussion about how more Democrats should have stepped up to respectfully challenge the incumbent; voters deserve choices based on merit, not a system that defers to seniority). There is, however, an alternative option, albeit a somewhat far-fetched one.

    As many pundits have pointed out, the party could choose to run an open convention at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. But Biden would have to first willingly step aside, something he has not yet indicated he would do. If he did, however, the delegates who have pledged to nominate him at the convention could vote for someone else. This would likely kick off a free-for-all of candidates scrambling for the nomination and could get messy. There would likely be large protests from anti-war activists opposed to continuing to support Israel’s attacks on Gaza, for example. Plus, the idea of delegates choosing a candidate and not the American voters feels undemocratic.

    This hypothetical scenario echoes the infamous 1968 DNC, which descended into chaos after incumbent Lyndon Johnson dropped out due to the unpopular war in Vietnam. That convention was also held in Chicago, and sparked seven days of protests and a police crackdown that resulted in one death and hundreds of injuries. The eventual Democratic nominee, Hubert Humphrey, would go on to lose to Richard Nixon in November.

    If Biden were to drop out, a number of names have been floated as possible alternatives. Vice President Kamala Harris is the obvious choice from a succession of powers perspective, but Democratic governors like California’s Gavin Newsom, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer have all also been floated as strong contenders for the Oval Office.

    click to enlarge

    Joe Maroon

    Gov. Whitmer was sworn in for a second term on Jan. 1, 2023.

    As Biden struggled to answer a question about abortion on Thursday night — which should have been a slam dunk considering the widespread backlash to Trump’s Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022 — it was hard not to imagine how much better it would have been if someone like Whitmer was up there on stage instead. An articulate, energetic orator, Whitmer has made reproductive rights one of her signature issues, dramatically revealing her own experience with sexual assault to oppose a controversial “rape insurance” bill as a state senator in 2013 and repealing Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade in 2023. And Whitmer, 52, who has a propensity for hopping on viral social media trends like last summer’s Barbie-mania, would likely have a much better time connecting with the ever-elusive bloc of young voters, who we can’t imagine are excited to cast their ballots in November.

    For now, though, it seems such a scenario is unlikely. The Biden campaign says he’s not dropping out, and on Friday, the President doubled down on his reelection effort while also acknowledging his poor performance.

    “I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” he said. “I don’t walk as smoothly as I used to, I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job. And I know how to get things done. When you get knocked down, you get back up.”

    And Whitmer, a co-chair of Biden’s re-election campaign and staunch supporter of the President, has also said she stands by him. On Friday, she released a statement in defense of Biden’s campaign:

    “For hardworking people in Michigan and across the country, this election is about which candidate can do the most to make life easier for them and their families, stand up for our rights and freedoms, and leave a better country for our kids and grandkids. On these questions, the difference between Joe Biden and Donald Trump as people, and as presidents, could not be clearer.

    President Biden’s focus is on lowering families’ costs, building an economy that works for working people, and restoring the reproductive freedom women lost the last time Donald Trump was in the White House.

    Donald Trump is a convicted felon whose focus is on Donald Trump. And he’s told us what he will do if he gets back into the White House. He will take his attacks on women’s reproductive rights even further, try to get rid of the Affordable Care Act and spike families’ health costs, and send auto jobs to China.

    Joe Biden is running to serve the American people. Donald Trump is running to serve Donald Trump. The difference between Joe Biden’s vision for making sure everyone in America has a fair shot and Donald Trump’s dangerous, self-serving plans will only get sharper as we head toward November.”

    Whitmer has also been hailed as a serious contender for the White House in 2028, so maybe we just have to wait until next time. Still, we hope that Biden and those closest to him give serious consideration to what’s at stake in November. We deserve better than what we got on Thursday evening.

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    Lee DeVito

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  • Quinnipiac poll: Trump leads Biden in Michigan

    Quinnipiac poll: Trump leads Biden in Michigan

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    President Joe Biden should be worried about Michigan.

    The latest poll from Quinnipiac University finds the Democrat trailing his Republican rival Donald Trump in the swing state.

    According to the poll, Trump leads 41% to Biden’s 36% when third-party candidates are factored in, including 10% for independents Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and 3% for Cornel West, and 4% for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, with 5% saying they either are undecided or refused to answer.

    If the third-party candidates are removed from the equation, the poll still found Trump leading 48% to Biden’s 45%, with 3% saying they are undecided, 2% saying they wouldn’t vote, 1% saying they vote for someone else, and 2% refusing to answer, though Quinnipiac called the two-way race too close to call.

    The question of whether Biden should run for re-election has dominated the media in recent months; at 81 he’s the oldest sitting president in American history. (Trump is 77.) Last month, New York Times columnist Ezra Klein argued that the Democrats should pick a new candidate in an open convention, and one of the top names floated by pundits as a possible replacement is Michigan’s Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is popular here and has become a national figure thanks in part to her support of abortion rights.

    The Quinnipiac poll found 54% approve of Whitmer’s job as governor, while 39% disapprove. (Among Democrats, 94% approve.) While 51% said they would not like her to run for president at some point in the future, 41% said they do, with 79% of Democrats supporting Whitmer for president in the future.

    click to enlarge

    Courtesy photo

    Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs legislation repealing Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban.

    For her part, Whitmer — who handily won re-election in 2022 — has said she is not interested in running for president at this time, and in fact serves as one of eight national co-chairs for Biden’s re-election campaign.

    Last month, Michigan’s primary election highlighted a potential vulnerability for Biden here, with a campaign to vote “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary to protest Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza leading to more than 100,000 “uncommitted” votes. The campaign was led by leaders in Michigan’s sizable Arab American community who supported Biden in 2020 but say they can no longer do so unless he puts more pressure on Israel to de-escalate the fighting, which has resulted in more than 30,000 dead Palestinians.

    In 2020, Biden beat Trump in Michigan by some 150,000 votes, but there are more than 200,000 Arab Americans in the state — not to mention many young voters who oppose the war.

    The “uncommitted” movement has since spread to other states, and has resulted in a number of uncommitted delegates that will be sent to the Democratic National Convention in August. Earlier this week, both Biden and Trump formally clinched enough delegates to become their parties’ nominees at the convention.

    When asked of the most important issues facing the country, the poll found the top three are preserving democracy in the United States (22%), the economy (21%), and immigration (21%).

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    Lee DeVito

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  • Whitmer signs bills banning sale of ‘whip-its,’ expanding drug treatment options

    Whitmer signs bills banning sale of ‘whip-its,’ expanding drug treatment options

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    click to enlarge

    Shutterstock

    Used cannisters of nitrous oxide litter the ground.

    (The Center Square) – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed bills that expand access to drug treatment options and ban the sale of “whip-its” – nitrous oxide canisters available at grocery stores and gas stations that people huff to get high.

    “When families are facing crises, we must have their backs and connect them with the resources and help that they need to get better,” Whitmer said in a statement. “With these commonsense, bipartisan bills, we’re establishing a family treatment court and creating a path to programs that tackle substance use disorder, protect children, and expand access to mental health resources.”

    House Bill 4522, sponsored by Rep. Kelly Breen, D-Novi, gives the circuit courts the power to institute or adopt family treatment courts and framework for family treatment programs.

    “Problem-solving courts are a fantastic model for people in the justice system who don’t need to be sequestered from society. However, the current legal framework for family treatment courts — housed under the drug court statute — doesn’t contain certain key aspects that make the model work,” Breen, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.

    HB 4524, sponsored by Rep. Joey Andrews, D-St. Joseph, will allow judges to review the circumstances and permit convicted participants of drug treatment programs to continue treatment. Under current law, if a participant in drug court programming is convicted of a felony for an offense that happened after their admittance into the program, their participation must be terminated.

    “Allowing judges and prosecutors to take a holistic view of the individual’s circumstances will undoubtedly lead to better outcomes,” Andrews said in a statement.

    Whitmer signed HB 4185 and HB 4190 to better protect Michigan workers who come into contact with asbestos on the job.

    “There is no safe level of exposure to asbestos, and as a carcinogen, it causes significant long-term health problems and can lead to fatal diseases,” bill sponsor Rep. Denise Mentzer, D-Mt. Clemens, said in a statement.

    Whitmer also signed HB 4979 and 4857, which will remove a requirement for counties to hire a designated assessor. It will allow counties to provide an interlocal agreement from the board of commissioners.

    “Counties across our state — including some in the U.P. — have a hard time keeping these assessor positions filled,” Rep. Jenn Hill, D-Marquette, said in a statement. “Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, this new law will let counties opt in to having an assessor appointed if they are having trouble getting the work done. We are easing a significant burden on local governments and saving taxpayer dollars.”

    HB 4857 will remove milkweed from the list of exotic weeds.

    Senate Bills 57 and 58 will ban the sale of items used to recreationally inhale nitrous oxide if the seller knows they will be used for those purposes.

    Sen. Joseph Bellino, R-Monroe, sponsored SB 58.

    “People are using charging canisters for the sole purpose of getting high,” Bellino said in a statement. “These new laws will address the problem by targeting those who are selling these canisters without selling whipping cream or dispensers for a legitimate use — stopping easy access by kids who use this gas like a drug.”

    Originally published by The Center Square. It is republished with permission.

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    Scott McClallen, The Center Square

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  • Biden Is Still the Democrats’ Best Bet for November

    Biden Is Still the Democrats’ Best Bet for November

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    Let’s start with the obvious. The concerns about Joe Biden are valid: He’s old. He talks slowly. He occasionally bumbles the basics in public appearances.

    Biden’s age is so concerning that many Biden supporters now believe he should step aside and let some other candidate become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. The New York Times journalist Ezra Klein made the best-available case for this view recently in a 4,000-word piece that garnered intense attention by arguing that Biden is no longer up to the task of campaign life. “He is not the campaigner he was, even five years ago,” Klein writes. “The way he moves, the energy in his voice. The Democrats denying decline are only fooling themselves.”

    In one sense Klein is correct. As the political strategist Mike Murphy said many moons ago, Biden’s age is like a gigantic pair of antlers he wears on his head, all day every day. Even when he does something exceptional—like visit a war zone in Ukraine, or whip inflation—the people applauding him are thinking, Can’t. Stop. Staring. At. The antlers.

    Biden can’t shed these antlers. He’s going to wear them from now until November 5. If anything, they’ll probably grow.

    That said, there’s another point worth noting up front: Joe Biden is almost certainly the strongest possible candidate Democrats can field against Donald Trump in 2024.

    Biden’s strengths as a candidate are considerable. He has presided over an extraordinarily productive first term in which he’s passed multiple pieces of popular legislation with bipartisan majorities.

    Unemployment is at its lowest low, GDP growth is robust, real wage gains have been led by the bottom quartile, and the American economy has achieved a post-COVID soft landing that makes us the envy of the world. He has no major scandals. His handling of American foreign policy has been stronger and defter than any recent president’s.

    Moreover, he is a known quantity. The recent Michigan primary results underscored that Democratic voters don’t actually have an appetite for leaving Biden. In 2012, 11 percent of Michigan Democrats voted “uncommitted” against Barack Obama when he had no opposition. This week, with two challengers on the ballot and progressive activists whipping votes against Biden, the “uncommitted” vote share was just 13 percent. Biden is fully vetted, his liabilities priced in. Voters are not being asked to take a chance on him.

    This last part is crucial, because 2024 pits a current president against a former president, making both quasi-incumbents. If Biden was replaced, another Democrat would have her or his own strengths—but would be an insurgent. Asking voters to roll the dice on a fresh face against a functionally incumbent President Trump is a bigger ask than you might think.

    Read: Democrats should pick a new presidential candidate now

    But the biggest problem plaguing arguments for Biden’s retirement is: Who then? Pretend you are a Democrat and have been handed a magical monkey’s paw. You believe that Biden is too old to defeat Trump and so you make a wish: I want a younger, more vigorous Democrat. There’s a puff of smoke and Kamala Harris is the nominee.

    Do you feel better about the odds of defeating Trump in nine months?

    You shouldn’t. Harris’s approval rating is slightly lower than Biden’s. People skeptical of her political abilities point to her time as vice president, but that’s not really fair: Very few vice presidents look like plausible successors during their time in office. (George H. W. Bush and Al Gore are the exceptions.)

    What should worry you about Harris is her 2020 campaign, which was somehow both disorganized and insular. She did not exhibit the kind of management skills or political instincts that inspire confidence in her ability to win a national campaign. Worse, she only rarely exhibited top-level-candidate skills.

    Harris had some great moments in 2020. Her announcement speech and first debate performance were riveting. But more often she was flat-footed and awkward. She fell apart at the Michigan debate in 2019 and never got polling traction. (My colleague Sarah Longwell likens Harris to a professional golfer who’s got the yips.)

    Some public polling on this question fills out the picture: Emerson finds Harris losing to Trump by three percentage points (Biden is down one point in the same poll). Fox has Harris losing by five points (it also has Biden down by one point). These are just two polls and the questions were hypothetical, but at best, you can say that Harris is not obviously superior to Biden in terms of electability. At worst, she might give Democrats longer odds.

    So you go back to the monkey’s paw with another wish: a younger, more vigorous Democrat who’s not Kamala Harris, please.

    I’m not sure how it would work logistically—would the Democratic Party turn its back on the sitting vice president?—but this is magic, so just roll with it. There’s a puff of smoke and Gavin Newsom walks onstage.

    Newsom is one of those people who, like Bill Clinton, has been running for president since he was 5 years old. Also like Clinton, Newsom is a good talker with some ideas in his head. But Clinton was a third-way Democrat from the Deep South at a time when the Democratic Party needed southern blue-collar voters. Today, the Democratic Party needs Rust Belt blue-collar voters—and Newsom is a liberal from San Francisco. Not a great starting position.

    Every non-Harris Democrat begins from a place of lower name recognition, meaning that there would be a rush to define them in the minds of voters. Republicans have convinced 45 percent of the country that Scrantonian Joe Biden is a Communist. What do you think they’d do with Newsom? In the Fox poll, he runs even with Vice President Harris at -4 to Trump. In the more recent Emerson poll, Newsom trails Trump by 10 points.

    Then there’s the eyeball test. Look at Newsom’s slicked-back hair, his gleaming smile, and tell me: Does he look like the guy to eat into Trump’s margins among working-class whites in Pennsylvania and Michigan?

    What about Pennsylvania and Michigan? You have only one wish left on the monkey’s paw, and Gretchen Whitmer and Josh Shapiro—popular governors who won big in swing states in 2022—are sitting right there. Maybe you should put one of them on the ticket in place of Biden?

    There’s some polling to back you up: Whitmer would probably beat Trump in Michigan and Shapiro would probably beat Trump in Pennsylvania.

    Nationally, it’s a much different question. I haven’t found anyone who’s polled Shapiro-Trump nationally, but Emerson and Fox both have Whitmer polling worse than Biden. (Emerson has Whitmer 12 points behind Trump.)

    Name recognition accounts for part of this gap, but not all of it. In 2022, Whitmer won her gubernatorial race by 11 points while Shapiro won by 15. But each ran against an underfunded MAGA extremist. In the Michigan poll pitting Whitmer against Trump, she leads by only six points; in the Pennsylvania poll with Shapiro, he leads Trump by 11. So even in states where everyone knows them, these potential saviors are softer against Trump than they were against their 2022 MAGA tomato cans.

    Sure, Whitmer and Shapiro seem like strong candidates at the midsize-state level. But you never know whether a candidate will pop until they hit the national stage. Scott Walker, Ron DeSantis, John Kerry, Mitt Romney, Kamala Harris—all of these politicians looked formidable too. Then the presidential-election MRI for the soul exposed their liabilities. Always remember that Barack Obama’s ascent from promising senator to generational political talent was the exception, not the rule.

    Read: A wild and dangerous 2024 experiment

    Let’s say that one of these not–Kamala Harris candidates is chosen at the Democratic National Convention in August. In the span of 10 weeks they would have to:

    1. Define themselves to the national audience while simultaneously resisting Trump’s attempts to define them.

    2. Build a national campaign structure and get-out-the-vote operation.

    3. Unify the Democratic Party.

    4. Fend off any surprises uncovered during their public (and at-scale) vetting.

    5. Earn credit in the minds of voters for the Biden economy.

    6. Distance themselves from unpopular Biden policies.

    7. Portray themselves as a credible commander in chief.

    8. Lay out a coherent governing vision.

    9. Persuade roughly 51 percent of the country to support them.

    Perhaps it’s possible. But that strikes me as a particularly tall order, even if one of them is a generational political talent. Which—again with the odds—they probably aren’t.

    We’ve got one final problem with the monkey’s paw: It doesn’t exist. If Biden withdrew from the race, the Democratic Party would confront a messy, time-consuming process to replace him. Perhaps a rigorous but amicable write-in campaign would produce a strong nominee and a unified party. But perhaps the party would experience a demolition derby that results in a suboptimal nominee and hard feelings.

    Or maybe party elites at a brokered convention would choose a good nominee. (This is the Ezra Klein scenario, and I’m sympathetic to it. Smoke-filled back rooms get a bad rap; historically they produced better candidates than the modern primary system.) But very few living people have participated in a brokered convention. It could easily devolve into chaos and fracture the moderate, liberal, and progressive wings of the party.

    The point is: Biden has a 50–50 shot. Maybe a little bit worse, maybe a little bit better—like playing blackjack. Every other option is a crapshoot in which the best outcome you can reasonably hope for is 50–50 odds and the worst outcome pushes the odds to something like one in three.

    Joe Biden is Joe Biden. He isn’t going to win a 10-point, realigning victory. But his path to reelection is clear: Focus like a laser on suburban and working-class white voters in a handful of swing states. Remind them that Trump is a chaos agent who wrecked the economy. Show them how good the economy is now. Make a couple of jokes about the antlers. And then bring these people home—because many of them already voted for him once.

    Having a sure thing would certainly be nice, given the ongoing authoritarian threat we face. But there isn’t one. Joe Biden is the best deal democracy is going to get.

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  • Robin Michigiizhigookwe Clark brings Indigenous knowledge to Michigan National Resources Commission as first Anishinaabe woman appointee

    Robin Michigiizhigookwe Clark brings Indigenous knowledge to Michigan National Resources Commission as first Anishinaabe woman appointee

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    Areas that have been continuously stewarded by Indigenous people are often biodiversity hotspots where wildlife, humans, and nature thrive in balance with one another. That’s according to Robin Michigiizhigookwe Clark, who has been newly appointed to the Michigan Natural Resources Commission.

    Clark is the first Anishinaabe woman to serve on the commission and was appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in December 2023 for a four-year term that began in January. The commission is a seven-member board that sets regulations for fishing, hunting, and trapping in Michigan. In her role, Clark says she wants to focus on the impacts of current harvest regulations on wildlife populations including the number of hunting and trapping licenses issued.

    “In recent decades, there’s been [a] growing understanding of the significance of Indigenous knowledge when it comes to ecology and biodiversity conservation. We’re everywhere,” she says laughing. “There are 12 federally recognized tribes [in Michigan]. There’s all sorts of urban Indian populations. And so we really do have rich knowledge and relationships to draw from that can inform natural resource management, including harvest regulations.”

    Clark is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and lives with her family in the city of Sault Ste. Marie, on the border of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Ontario. She hopes to bring some of the Anishinaabe ways of relating to wildlife to the table at the commission’s monthly public meetings.

    “I’m new and just getting to know different sportsman’s groups… and a common theme is that folks will often call fish and wildlife a ‘resource,’ which is kind of a bummer because in my community, and a lot of Indigenous communities, we’re not talking about resources. We’re talking about relatives,” Clark says. “Fish [and] wildlife, in our teachings, these are actually elder beings who have provided for human beings over the generations. So, I will use the term ‘resource’ now, but it’s a little cringy,” she laughs.

    She adds about why there tends to be so much biodiversity in areas stewarded by Indigenous communities, “It’s really hard to completely wipe out a species from an area or even endanger them if you understand that species to be an elder relative.”

    The commission has only had two meetings so far this year, Clark says, mostly for an initiative to manage deer populations in the Upper and Lower Peninsulas spearheaded by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

    “There are very different deer herds in the Lower and Upper Peninsula because of the different forest and ecosystem conditions as well as winter severity and predator populations,” Clark explains. “The initiative is just bringing together a diverse group of citizens to look more holistically at how the deer population is doing and what are some management needs moving forward.”

    The Michigan Natural Resources Commission is also reviewing fur-bearing harvest regulations. Fur-bearers are animals like martens, bobcats, foxes, and coyotes that are hunted or caught for their fur. According to Michigan regulations for 2023-24, there is no limit on coyote and fox trapping, while the cap for fisher and martens is two bags per resident fur harvester.

    Clark holds both a Bachelor of Science in environmental studies and a Master of Science in community, agriculture, recreation, and resource studies from Michigan State University. As part of her doctoral studies in forest science at the Michigan Technological University, she worked with the Sault Tribe and Bay Mills Indian Community to research Anishinaabe peoples’ relationship to giizhik, or northern white cedar trees.

    The tribes utilize many parts of giizhik, according to Clark, including the leaves, needles, bark, and wood.

    Besides access changing with the privatization of land over several hundred years, she found that these groups generally take a more responsible and respectful approach to harvesting cedar. This includes only harvesting with a specific use in mind and considering over harvesting can affect other animals and plants in the ecosystem.

    “In birch bark canoes, the frames are also made of cedar wood,” she says. “But harvesting protocols are always focusing on minimizing harm… so you’re harvesting some of the bark of a tree at a particular time in order to best allow that tree to heal. You’re never killing the tree and you’re spacing out your harvest across the land. You’re considering not just you as the individual, your family, or your community, but you’re also considering the birds, the animals, and insects that also rely on giizhik… looking out for other beings, non human beings.”

    Clark began working as the director of the Sault Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources, overseeing environmental, fisheries, and wildlife management programs last December. She also served on the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan for 10 years developing natural resource and environmental health services for tribes across the state. 

    Sault Tribe Chairman Austin Lowes said in a statement that Clark’s passion for sustainable forest management brings an important voice to the commission in addition to her representing Anishinaabe people. 

    “Her combination of academic and real-world natural resources management experience makes her an ideal representative to serve on the Commission,” he said. “As the only Anishinaabe person and the only woman serving on the commission, she will also provide an important perspective on Native American culture and treaty rights that has not previously been present within that body.”

    More information on the commission and its meetings, which are open to the public, can be found at michigan.gov/dnr/about/boards/nrc.

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    Randiah Camille Green

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  • Listen to Michigan campaign rebukes Biden with strong ‘uncommitted’ Democratic primary results

    Listen to Michigan campaign rebukes Biden with strong ‘uncommitted’ Democratic primary results

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    As expected, President Joe Biden handily won Michigan’s Democratic primary election on Tuesday. But all eyes were on the Great Lakes State to see if a grassroots campaign urging people to vote “uncommitted” in protest of his handling of the war in Gaza could gain traction here, with Michigan becoming more influential in the national race after moving its primary election to earlier in the year.

    Launched by leaders from metro Detroit’s large Arab American community who call for a ceasefire in Gaza, the “Listen to Michigan” campaign bet that Democrats opposed to the war would turn out for the protest vote, but it wasn’t initially clear what benchmark would be considered a success. (There are some 200,000 Arab American voters in Michigan, while Biden beat Trump by about 150,000 votes in the 2020 general election.) Publicly, the campaign set a goal of 10,000 “uncommitted” votes, but that was an inadequate gauge; there were about 20,000 uncommitted voters in each of Michigan’s past three primary elections. So to make a statement, tens of thousands of Michiganders would have to vote “uncommitted” this time.

    The campaign declared victory Tuesday evening, with more than 38,000 votes for “uncommitted” shortly before 11 p.m. and 29% of votes in — enough for the campaign to send at least one delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

    “Our movement emerged victorious tonight and massively surpassed our expectations,” the campaign said in a statement. “Tens of thousands of Michigan Democrats, many of whom voted for Biden in 2020, are uncommitted to his re-election due to the war in Gaza.”

    Critics warned if these voters don’t support Biden in November that the Listen to Michigan campaign could help Trump, whose authoritarian bent would be worse for Gaza, Arab Americans, and democracy.

    But in a video statement, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, one of the most prominent supporters of Listen to Michigan, said the campaign was about participating in democracy to make its supporters’ voices heard.

    “We must protect our democracy, we must make sure that our government is about us, about the people,” she said, adding, “This is the way we can use our democracy to say, ‘Listen. Listen to Michigan.’”

    Tlaib said that she was proud to bring her 18-year-old son to vote for the first time ever on Tuesday. Her sister Layla Elabed is a campaign manager for Listen to Michigan.

    A similar group, the “Abandon Biden” campaign, declared victory well before polls even closed on Tuesday, saying that it had campaigners posted in Dearborn, the center of metro Detroit’s Arab American community, and “not a single person has said that they will vote for Biden,” the campaign’s Hassan Abdel Salam told Metro Times via email.

    “Whereas Biden won by 90% in 2020, there will be virtually no support this year for Biden,” he said. “It is not an understatement to say that this is an earthquake.”

    click to enlarge

    Viola Klocko

    A multicultural coalition in metro Detroit has rallied in opposition to the war in Gaza.

    Filmmaker and activist Michael Moore, who endorsed the Listen to Michigan campaign and famously predicted Trump would win in 2016, also anticipated a big turnout.

    “This is a movement that’s only about two weeks old and it has caught on fire, let me tell you, my friends,” he said on his podcast Rumble with Michael Moore. “I’m just telling you this as a Michigander, there are people by the thousands who are going to vote.”

    On Tuesday, Politico reported that Biden’s campaign was privately “freaking out about the uncommitted vote” in Michigan. Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Governor Whitmer — a loyal Biden ally who has repeated the talking point claiming that anything other than a vote for Biden in the primary will help Trump in November — expressed empathy for the uncommitted voters while speaking on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Tuesday.

    “Today, I anticipate that we will see a sizable number of people vote uncommitted,” she said, adding, “There’s a lot of people who are hurting.”

    When asked how Biden can win these voters back in November, Whitmer said, “It’s going to be important that the administration continue to engage with leaders and individuals in the Palestinian community, the Muslim community, the Arab American community, as well as the Jewish community.”

    Andy Levin, a Jewish former congressman who also supported the Listen to Michigan campaign, said that Biden must heed the warning and push harder for a ceasefire.

    “Joe Biden can get the vast majority of these people to vote for him if he changes course,” Levin said, according to The New York Times. “If he doesn’t change course, there’s nothing I can do to get folks to vote for him.”

    Israel’s bombing in Gaza has killed more than 30,000 people, with many more at risk of starvation and illness.

    This article was updated with more recent results from the primary election.

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    Lee DeVito

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  • Biden faces anger from key Arab-American voters in Michigan primary over Israel support in Gaza war

    Biden faces anger from key Arab-American voters in Michigan primary over Israel support in Gaza war

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    A man explains the importance of voting ‘uncommited’ as he hands out fliers outside the Islamic Center of Detroit to ask voters to vote ‘uncommitted’ in Michigan Primary elections on Tuesday, in Michigan, United States on February 26, 2024. 

    Mostafa Bassim | Anadolu | Getty Images

    Palestinian keffiyehs and signs that read “Abandon Biden”: Arab-American demonstrators in Warren, Michigan made no secret of their anger at the president in early February as he visited the key swing state that helped carry him to victory in 2020.

    As voters head to the polls for Michigan’s Democratic primary on Tuesday, there is a local campaign urging Democrats to choose “uncommitted” on the ballot as a form of protest vote again the administration’s support for Israel in its war in Gaza.

    In January, Biden’s reelection campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez canceled a meeting with Arab-American activists in Dearborn because of backlash over the administration’s policies. The U.S. has sent billions of dollars in advanced weapons to supply Israel before and since the terror attack led by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Oct. 7. The attack killed some 1,200 people there and took a further 240 hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

    The Israeli military’s response, which has been sharply criticized by numerous world leaders and aid organizations, has displaced some 1.9 million people in Gaza, according to the United Nations, and killed nearly 30,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas. The U.N. says that half a million people in the besieged enclave face starvation.

    Dearborn, Michigan is home to the largest Arab-American population in the U.S. At the time Rodriguez’ Dearborn meeting was canceled, the city’s mayor, Abdullah H. Hammoud, tweeted: “Little bit of advice – if you’re planning on sending campaign officials to convince the Arab American community on why they should vote for your candidate, don’t do it on the same day you announce selling fighter jets to the tyrants murdering our family members.”

    A spokesperson for the White House wasn’t immediately available when contacted by CNBC.

    The primary vote on Tuesday will essentially be a referendum on what many of the state’s Democratic voters feel about Biden, and will be a harbinger of just how worried the Biden campaign should be about its level of support in Michigan when it comes time for the General Election.

    Michigan’s Arab-American community voted overwhelmingly for Biden in 2020, helping him carry the state and defeat then-incumbent Donald Trump. But its population could be the determining factor in whether Biden takes the state this year, and its crucial 15 electoral college votes with it.

    “The U.S. election for President Biden could swing on two or three states,” Fred Kempe, CEO of the Atlantic Council, told CNBC. “Take one of those states, Michigan, [which] Biden won by fewer votes in the last election than there are Arab American votes that could go against him, because of what’s going on in the Middle East. So it’s an international situation for Biden, it’s also a deeply domestic political situation.”

    U.S. President Joe Biden is welcomed by Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, as he visits Israel amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 18, 2023.

    Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

    Biden has voiced support for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, and has asked Israel to do more to protect civilian life in Gaza — but critics say the words are meaningless if the administration refuses to use its leverage to force the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change course. The U.S. has consistently voted against every cease-fire measure put forward at the U.N. since the war began.

    Senior White House officials met with community leaders in Michigan on Feb. 8, during which U.S. deputy national security advisor Jon Finer vocally acknowledged the administration’s actions and “missteps” with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war in Gaza.

    “We are very well aware that we have missteps in the course of responding to this crisis since October 7,” Finer said in recordings of the closed-door meeting published by The New York Times. “We have left a very damaging impression based on what has been a wholly inadequate public accounting for how much the president, the administration and the country values the lives of Palestinians,” he continued.

    “And that began, frankly, pretty early in the conflict.”

    Finer added that he did not “have any confidence in this current government of Israel.”

    A view of destruction with destroyed buildings and roads after Israeli Forces withdrawn from the areas in Khan Yunis, Gaza on February 02, 2024. 

    Abdulqader Sabbah | Anadolu | Getty Images

    Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has warned voters against the “uncommitted” campaign, stressing that “any vote that’s not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term,” which she said would be “devastating” for the Muslim community.

    Within the primary election, Biden doesn’t have any realistic Democratic competitors. But for Arab-Americans organizing across the country, the message is clear: No cease-fire, no vote.

    Khalid Turaani, the co-organizer of the Abandon Biden campaign, handed out pamphlets outside the Islamic Center of Detroit telling people to vote “uncommitted” on their ballots, and told the BBC in an interview published Tuesday that his group had made more than 30,000 calls with the same message.

    “We’re doing all that we can to ensure that Biden is a one-term president,” Turaani said, according to the U.K. broadcaster. “In November, we will remember. When you stand against the will of the people, you’re going to lose.”

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