Whitmer is walking a tightrope. Yes, she’s term-limited now, but if she wants Democrats to continue to win elections in Michigan she has to help win over lots of voters who aren’t Democrats. She’s in a tough position. It shows me she’s still putting her state first, maybe at the expense of her own ambitions. Or maybe not. Dems nationally have to figure out a way to win. Big Gretch is OK in my book.
Cut her some slack. She has as much chance establishing control in a meeting with trump these days, as she would walking into a cage with an angry chimpanzee.
I can see why Whitmer is doing what she's doing; there is so much at stake in Michigan. The hard part is that The Felon can't be trusted and is completely transactional so she's threading a very small needle in terms of staying on level ground with him. I like her and she's weathered threats with grace and wisdom. She's also very pro-woman which is important to me.
“…my job is to do everything I can for the people of Michigan“
Exactly right. Considering Trump was elected by close to 50% of the country, the next president is going to have to walk a very fine line between insulting the very people who voted for Trump three times and insulting the people who voted against him three times. I don’t think very many people voted for Biden out of conviction that he was the best candidate, I think more people voted for Harris for that reason, but both are still in the minority. I voted for both candidates out of a lack of an alternative. I’m looking for values and an ability to negotiate.
Negotiation is going to have to be a key attribute of the next president if we are going to claw back any of the trust we once enjoyed, much less moral high ground, because we have pissed off and/or threatened and/or deeply disturbed most of the rest of the world.
Trump got votes from 22.7% of the total population, 31.6% of eligible voters, and 49.5% of the votes cast. That's not even a majority of active voters, much less "close to 50% of the country."
Pritzker is my Governor and I thinks he’s great. It’s not because he gives good speeches and interviews, although he does. It’s because he produces results. Our state is economically and financially healthier than it was before. He steered the ship well during COVID.
If the last election taught us anything it should be that many Americans pay little attention to politics and politicians. They are definitely not paying attention to Trump’s daily erratic behavior. It’s possible though that come election time they can be reminded who produced results for them and who did things that harmed them.
Democrats need to keep building their communities, counties, districts, and states and sometimes that will involve partnering with Trump. Sometimes it will involve partnering with scummy MAGA Republicans. Warren is working with Hawley on legislation for instance.
Whitmer deserves praise for manipulating Trump to get a win for Michigan. Giving a few photo ops is a small price to pay.
After running a horrible campaign, Hillary came within 75,000 popular votes of winning the electoral college. If she were half as smart as she think she is, she would’ve won a landslide. Vice President Harris was sandbagged by Biden. She was not positioned, prepared or mentored well, because Biden is a selfish old man - I think he picked her precisely because she was a weak candidate in her primary. He wanted that second term from the very beginning. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish.
I'd rather vote for J.B. Pritzker for President than Gretchen Whitmer. I think Agent Orange has leaked into the water around Flint and tainted the Kool-Aid they're drinking up there.
MIchigan matters the same way Colorado matters, says the geography-lover at our house. Whitmer had a project co-led with a Republican to bring something good to Mich., so T. bumped his way into a photo-share that normally would not have happened. Colorado went Red to Purple to Blue. Michigan is changing direction as well, in the purple part of the shift, heading to blue. Whitmer is popular, so Repubs want her to look AS IF she backs them on everything.
Like the headline, "More Dads changing diapers even if Trump wouldn't" Go Dads! We have a family biz so can work at home sometimes, Has been great to look out the window and see Dads taking their little ones around the neighborhood, on walks, using strollers, bikes, little wagons
She’s standing for the people of Michigan and being strategic with Trump. I actually think she’s smart and getting things done which is what she was elected to do. With this presidency she’s using nuance to get things done.
As a Michigander, I have a great deal of respect for Whitmer. Maybe even more now, given that she chose to prioritize the welfare of her constituents over her personal political ambitions. That's not something you see much of anymore. But clearly there is no way at this point that she will be the 2028 prez nominee. That's over. She will make a great Secretary of Energy or Transportation.
She prioritized the short-term benefits of HER constituents over the long-term health of the entire country. That's like a doctor ignoring the dying patient who is spreading ebola with every breath in one bed so that he can put a band-aid on his niece lying in another bed. It's actually that sentiment that got us here. People so concerned about the price THEY have to pay for eggs or that their pet issue is not NUMBER ONE priority that they ignore the fact that the lives of 330 million people and an entire nation are about to be destroyed. No points. Sorry.
Hi Bill, I am from CA and I am so mixed on this, she did get what she needed for MI and Sarah Huckabee Sanders couldn't get her state FEMA $. It's a dog eat dog world. I say let her run in the primary, show her record and the people will decide! And I would trust her in a SEC role for sure. (her tariff comment wasn't so great, but she can come back from that, goodness the perfection demanded from the Dems is out of control). Btw- my mom is from East Lansing, long line of Fins up there in MI, including the upper peninsula. My great uncle had a strawberry farm in the upper. Gorgeous part of the country.
Back in 2024 when there were all these calls for a full and open primary before and after Biden's dropping out, it was hard to name any Democrat who people believed would be a better standard bearer than Whitmer. Indeed, it was more like "let's have an open primary so we can put Harris aside and get Whitmer to lead the ticket" and little more than that.
My thought at the time was that Whitmer looked great on paper but until you actually run, no one knows how good you really are. Take a bow, Ron DeSantis.
Now we know.
Whitmer may be doing good work for the residents of Michigan. She's written herself out of the story as a leader of the Democratic party, however. Time to move on from her.
Whitmer "owes" her political profile to Trump? Really? He gets the credit? That's ridiculous. She chose that fight when she could have tried to mollify him. Isn't that what we want now? She did it, essentially by herself, well before our current situation.
I was in Michigan when Covid hit, and I still am. We were hit early and hard, esp. in Detroit. She started the fight with him when there was little PPE and Trump was playing games with the states with it.
True, with a different and decent president she wouldn't be "that woman," but she doesn't owe a damn thing to Trump for her early profile. I find this idea dismissive of her work in those days, and I'm angry.
I do wish she could have handled the whole Selfridge thing better (and that visit to the Oval), but give credit where credit is due. She made herself through her choices. She stood up forcefully in those horrific days. I, for one, will always be grateful. It provided a little hope as the body bags piled up in unrefrigerated hospital rooms.
Whitmer is walking a tightrope. Yes, she’s term-limited now, but if she wants Democrats to continue to win elections in Michigan she has to help win over lots of voters who aren’t Democrats. She’s in a tough position. It shows me she’s still putting her state first, maybe at the expense of her own ambitions. Or maybe not. Dems nationally have to figure out a way to win. Big Gretch is OK in my book.
Cut her some slack. She has as much chance establishing control in a meeting with trump these days, as she would walking into a cage with an angry chimpanzee.
What the hell happened to her? Why oh why would she capitulate to "HIM?"
I can see why Whitmer is doing what she's doing; there is so much at stake in Michigan. The hard part is that The Felon can't be trusted and is completely transactional so she's threading a very small needle in terms of staying on level ground with him. I like her and she's weathered threats with grace and wisdom. She's also very pro-woman which is important to me.
“…my job is to do everything I can for the people of Michigan“
Exactly right. Considering Trump was elected by close to 50% of the country, the next president is going to have to walk a very fine line between insulting the very people who voted for Trump three times and insulting the people who voted against him three times. I don’t think very many people voted for Biden out of conviction that he was the best candidate, I think more people voted for Harris for that reason, but both are still in the minority. I voted for both candidates out of a lack of an alternative. I’m looking for values and an ability to negotiate.
Negotiation is going to have to be a key attribute of the next president if we are going to claw back any of the trust we once enjoyed, much less moral high ground, because we have pissed off and/or threatened and/or deeply disturbed most of the rest of the world.
Trump got votes from 22.7% of the total population, 31.6% of eligible voters, and 49.5% of the votes cast. That's not even a majority of active voters, much less "close to 50% of the country."
He won.
This is true. However, it was not a "landslide, it was not a "mandate," and it damn sure wasn't "half the country."
Sad fact is that a woman will NOT be elected president of the US for a very long time so it's a moot point to discuss her political aspirations.
Pritzker is my Governor and I thinks he’s great. It’s not because he gives good speeches and interviews, although he does. It’s because he produces results. Our state is economically and financially healthier than it was before. He steered the ship well during COVID.
If the last election taught us anything it should be that many Americans pay little attention to politics and politicians. They are definitely not paying attention to Trump’s daily erratic behavior. It’s possible though that come election time they can be reminded who produced results for them and who did things that harmed them.
Democrats need to keep building their communities, counties, districts, and states and sometimes that will involve partnering with Trump. Sometimes it will involve partnering with scummy MAGA Republicans. Warren is working with Hawley on legislation for instance.
Whitmer deserves praise for manipulating Trump to get a win for Michigan. Giving a few photo ops is a small price to pay.
After running a horrible campaign, Hillary came within 75,000 popular votes of winning the electoral college. If she were half as smart as she think she is, she would’ve won a landslide. Vice President Harris was sandbagged by Biden. She was not positioned, prepared or mentored well, because Biden is a selfish old man - I think he picked her precisely because she was a weak candidate in her primary. He wanted that second term from the very beginning. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish.
Did you mean to reply to my comment?
I'd rather vote for J.B. Pritzker for President than Gretchen Whitmer. I think Agent Orange has leaked into the water around Flint and tainted the Kool-Aid they're drinking up there.
MIchigan matters the same way Colorado matters, says the geography-lover at our house. Whitmer had a project co-led with a Republican to bring something good to Mich., so T. bumped his way into a photo-share that normally would not have happened. Colorado went Red to Purple to Blue. Michigan is changing direction as well, in the purple part of the shift, heading to blue. Whitmer is popular, so Repubs want her to look AS IF she backs them on everything.
Like the headline, "More Dads changing diapers even if Trump wouldn't" Go Dads! We have a family biz so can work at home sometimes, Has been great to look out the window and see Dads taking their little ones around the neighborhood, on walks, using strollers, bikes, little wagons
Whitmer is all about gaining power for herself. She’s just another selfish politician groveling to trump to retain power and possibly gain more power.
She’s standing for the people of Michigan and being strategic with Trump. I actually think she’s smart and getting things done which is what she was elected to do. With this presidency she’s using nuance to get things done.
I'm not sure what you want us to take away from this --- I agree with the comment below.
As a Michigander, I have a great deal of respect for Whitmer. Maybe even more now, given that she chose to prioritize the welfare of her constituents over her personal political ambitions. That's not something you see much of anymore. But clearly there is no way at this point that she will be the 2028 prez nominee. That's over. She will make a great Secretary of Energy or Transportation.
She prioritized the short-term benefits of HER constituents over the long-term health of the entire country. That's like a doctor ignoring the dying patient who is spreading ebola with every breath in one bed so that he can put a band-aid on his niece lying in another bed. It's actually that sentiment that got us here. People so concerned about the price THEY have to pay for eggs or that their pet issue is not NUMBER ONE priority that they ignore the fact that the lives of 330 million people and an entire nation are about to be destroyed. No points. Sorry.
Hi Bill, I am from CA and I am so mixed on this, she did get what she needed for MI and Sarah Huckabee Sanders couldn't get her state FEMA $. It's a dog eat dog world. I say let her run in the primary, show her record and the people will decide! And I would trust her in a SEC role for sure. (her tariff comment wasn't so great, but she can come back from that, goodness the perfection demanded from the Dems is out of control). Btw- my mom is from East Lansing, long line of Fins up there in MI, including the upper peninsula. My great uncle had a strawberry farm in the upper. Gorgeous part of the country.
I spent 4 great years in East Lansing. Love the UP. Gretchen has been a solid governor.
Back in 2024 when there were all these calls for a full and open primary before and after Biden's dropping out, it was hard to name any Democrat who people believed would be a better standard bearer than Whitmer. Indeed, it was more like "let's have an open primary so we can put Harris aside and get Whitmer to lead the ticket" and little more than that.
My thought at the time was that Whitmer looked great on paper but until you actually run, no one knows how good you really are. Take a bow, Ron DeSantis.
Now we know.
Whitmer may be doing good work for the residents of Michigan. She's written herself out of the story as a leader of the Democratic party, however. Time to move on from her.
Whitmer "owes" her political profile to Trump? Really? He gets the credit? That's ridiculous. She chose that fight when she could have tried to mollify him. Isn't that what we want now? She did it, essentially by herself, well before our current situation.
I was in Michigan when Covid hit, and I still am. We were hit early and hard, esp. in Detroit. She started the fight with him when there was little PPE and Trump was playing games with the states with it.
True, with a different and decent president she wouldn't be "that woman," but she doesn't owe a damn thing to Trump for her early profile. I find this idea dismissive of her work in those days, and I'm angry.
I do wish she could have handled the whole Selfridge thing better (and that visit to the Oval), but give credit where credit is due. She made herself through her choices. She stood up forcefully in those horrific days. I, for one, will always be grateful. It provided a little hope as the body bags piled up in unrefrigerated hospital rooms.