By Bankole Thompson
Debbie Dingell, a Democratic powerhouse, and wife of U.S. Rep. John Dingell announced today that she is out of the race to replace retiring Michigan U.S. Senator Carl Levin. Dingell was widely viewed and some polls strongly suggest she would have been the likely lead candidate if she was to enter the race for senate.

However, her exit announcement today leaves the Michigan Democratic Party with few difficult options in terms of who the electable candidates are.

“When Carl Levin announced he would not seek reelection, those plans changed. Close friends, complete strangers, political allies and business colleagues encouraged me to take a long, hard look at running for the Senate myself – and that’s what I have done. I love my state, and the people who make up the fabric of our communities. I’ve lived here my whole life, my roots are here; I am a Michigan girl born and bred……and I can tell you this: we can work through these tough times to a much better future. We don’t back down, we don’t quit, and we don’t give up, no matter how many times we get knocked down. Standing up for our communities and for our families is how I define the job of representing Michigan in Washington, and it’s a job I know I would be honored to have. It’s also no secret that I think we need more women in the Senate and in the House, and there was an attraction to potentially being the junior member of an All-Debbie Senate delegation,” Dingell said in a release hours before Vice President Joe Biden will keynote Democrats Jefferson Jack Dinner tonight in Detroit.

Congressman Gary Peters has indicated that he is seriously considering a run and some Democrats believe he could be the one to win the nomination. But winning the nomination is totally different from winning the senate seat. The issue Democrats have now is whether Peters can win statewide after coming out of a brutal congressional campaign.

Dingell has strong name recognition and can raise the money. She could galvanize the women vote – a constituent that is crucial to the survival of the party – and has strong grassroots recognition. Added to that is the fact that she is plugged into a wide network of civic organizations in Michigan and Washington which is an advantage for anyone seeking elected office, especially statewide.

With Peters who is freshly coming out of a congressional election where he lost Detroit to former Congressman Hansen Clarke, there is no guarantee that if he enters the race and captures the nomination he can win statewide. I have no doubt in Peters’ ability to articulate the issues and convey his message to voters, but it would take more than just speaking out on the issues. His Republican opponents could paint his push to replace Sen. Levin as raw ambition for a man who still has more years to go in the U.S. House of Representatives.

But if Peters wants to win he will have to start building a statewide network now that is transcending with fundraising power and convince people that he can embody the legacy of Levin with all the demands that comes with that office.

Certainly, being a Congressman puts him on that road. Yet given how prized Levin’s seat is replacing him is not going to be a cakewalk or a coronation for anyone. Whoever the candidates are they will be subjected to public scrutiny aside from the fact that this is going to be the most expensive senate race in Michigan. The political pendulum could shift to any party in replacing Levin which is why Republicans are not in a haste to announce their definitive candidates yet.

But the other compounding problem for Democrats is that they have no clear candidate to challenge Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. Again Peters name has been mentioned as the logical candidate who could take Snyder on. Still it is not a guarantee that Democrats are equipped right now to unelect Snyder.

Dingell is right in saying that her colleagues and the party faithful need to rally behind a unified candidate. The sooner they do that the better it is. But I don’t see that happening soon. They can’t repeat the mistakes of the last gubernatorial election.

Bankole Thompson author of the latest book “Obama and Christian Loyalty,” is a distinguished journalist and author. Since 2008 he has been a member of the weekly “Obama Watch” Sunday evening program on New York’s WLIB-1190AM. You can tune in every Sunday to hear his take on the Obama administration from 9-10:30pm and simulcast in New Jersey and Connecticut. You can listen to him every Thursday morning on WDET-101.9FM (Detroit NPR Affiliate) where he is a political analyst. Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle and author of the forthcoming book “Rising from the Ashes: Engaging Detroit’s Future with Courage.” No part of this blog must be republished without the appropriate designation or expressed permisison of the author http://www.bankolethompson.com by emailing bankole@bankolethompson.com

By Bankole Thompson
The death of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, an ultra conservative marks the end of an era for a once powerful politician who refused to stand for morality, equality and global justice at a time when her leadership was needed to meet the challenges of the one greatest battles fought against restoring international human rights: the fight against apartheid in South Africa.

Thatcher supported the apartheid government in South Africa that subjugated black South Africans to all forms of human indignity. She once called Nelson Mandela a terrorist for his insistence on ending apartheid policies in his native South Africa and opposed sanctions against the apartheid government. At the same time the former British leader dubbed as “iron lady” was providing critical support to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

She called the African National Congress (ANC), the political group that Mandela led which successfully ended apartheid, a terrorist group and her supporters proudly wore badges that screamed “Hang Mandela,” a forceful dismissal of the liberation struggle in South Africa.

Today as the world reflects on Thatcher’s legacy it is one that never stood for liberation, one that stood for one race to subject another race to inhumanity.

Dali Tambo, son of the venerable anti-apartheid leader Oliver Tambo reacting to Thatcher’s death told the Guardian newspaper in London that “It’s a shame that we could never call her one of the champions of the liberation struggle. Normally we say that when one of us goes, the ANC ancestors will meet them at the pearly gates and give them a standing ovation. I think it’s quite likely that when Margaret Thatcher reaches the pearly gates, the ANC will boycott the occasion.”

However Thatcher met with Nelson Mandela in 1991 at No. 10 Downing Street after Mandela’s historic release from prison. Mandela came to London as a hero and Thatcher watched as the anti-apartheid leader was given a statesman welcome to Great Britain for a man he opposed and called a terrorist.

Pallo Jordan, the ANC’s top strategist at the time recalled the meeting with Thatcher after Mandela left prison.

“In the end I sat with her in her office with Nelson Mandela in 1991. She knew she had no choice. Although she called us a terrorist organisation, she had to shake hands with a terrorist and sit down with a terrorist. So who won?” Jordan said.

The irony of history is that in 2008, Britain unveiled a statue of Mandela in Parliament Square in Hyde Park to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon and global statesman.

Yet that still will not undo the damage caused by Thatcher, her opposition to sanctions against the apartheid regime led to more deaths of innocent South Africans who were looking to the world to rescue them from the manacles of racism. Thatcher stood idly from a powerful platform and watched and then insulted those who were fighting for equality. That is her legacy.

Bankole Thompson author of the latest book “Obama and Christian Loyalty,” is a distinguished journalist and author. Since 2008 he has been a member of the weekly “Obama Watch” Sunday evening program on New York’s WLIB-1190AM. You can tune in every Sunday to hear his take on the Obama administration from 9-10:30pm and simulcast in New Jersey and Connecticut. You can listen to him every Thursday morning on WDET-101.9FM (Detroit NPR Affiliate) where he is a political analyst. Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle and author of the forthcoming book “Rising from the Ashes: Engaging Detroit’s Future with Courage.” No part of this blog must be republished without the appropriate designation or expressed permisison of the author http://www.bankolethompson.com by emailing bankole@bankolethompson.com

By Bankole Thompson
It’s the day many in Detroit have been waiting for, whether they liked it or not. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to announce Kevyn D. Orr, 54, a partner in Jones Day, a Cleveland-based law firm, as Detroit’s emergency manager on March 14, 2 p.m, in Cadillac Place in Detroit, according to sources familiar with the preparations for this major seismic shift in Detroit’s governance structure.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is among those expected to be at the historic announcement when Orr, a successful African American lawyer who is a graduate of the University of Michigan law school, is named the new leader to lead the financial restructuring process for Detroit.

According to the Jones Day website, Orr “has practiced in the areas of business restructuring, financial institution regulation, and commercial litigation since 1984. Throughout his career he has demonstrated the ability to handle all aspects of complex and precedent-setting matters and has successfully tried numerous jury trials to verdict.”

He has served as “both the chief government legal officer of a failed financial institution and a special master to oversee the operations of a real estate development firm. He also has assisted clients with government RFPs and inspector general audits.”

Orr works out of Washington, DC.

Most notably, Orr, who has roots in Detroit, was one of the lead attorneys during the Chrysler bankruptcy process.

“Representative matters include counseling and representing: Chrysler LLC with regard to all aspects of its bankruptcy, URS/WGI against claims by the Department of Justice for alleged FAA/FCA and related common law contract claims, health care financier National Century Financial Enterprises in its bankruptcy and asserting that company’s claims in the health care provider bankruptcies of PhyAmerica Corporation and DCHC/Greater Southeast Hospital, Laidlaw Corporation in its defense of a $1 billion claim by the purchaser of its environmental cleanup division, investment banks and advisors in bankruptcy matters, and sellers and bidders in bankruptcy-related auctions,” the Jones Day’s website reads.

Orr has also testified before Congress on bankruptcy and financial institution regulation.

His announcement today is coming on the heels of the Detroit City Council’s failed bid to convince Gov. Snyder that local officials in Detroit can avert a financial crisis on their own and that they have a plan to do so.

Sources also indicate that Mayor Bing has already met Orr and had conversation with the new manager about what the mayor’s role would be in this new era.

In an interview this week, Bing made it clear he won’t be around if he doesn’t have the power to effect change and carry out his plans under an EM.

It remains to be seen what Orr would do and how he would see council’s role in this new government structure that has met significant opposition as well as support from all sides of the political equation.

Bankole Thompson author of the latest book “Obama and Christian Loyalty,” is a distinguished journalist and author. Since 2008 he has been a member of the weekly “Obama Watch” Sunday evening program on New York’s WLIB-1190AM. You can tune in every Sunday to hear his take on the Obama administration from 9-10:30pm and simulcast in New Jersey and Connecticut. You can listen to him every Thursday morning on WDET-101.9FM (Detroit NPR Affiliate) where he is a political analyst. Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle and author of the forthcoming book “Rising from the Ashes: Engaging Detroit’s Future with Courage.” No part of this blog must be republished without the appropriate designation or expressed permisison of the author http://www.bankolethompson.com by emailing bankole@bankolethompson.com

By Bankole Thompson
I recall almost a decade ago when former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at the height of his powers walked up to me at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and asked “Can a brother get a good word from you?” My response was, “Mr. Mayor, give me something good to write about.”

Apparently, the mayor was concerned that he wasn’t getting favorable press from the media and that journalists like myself and others were too critical of his administration, and thus he needed a break. This morning, standing in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Detroit waiting for the historic verdict in Kilpatrick’s corruption trial, I could not help but recall all of my interactions with the man who once wielded so much power that anyone close to him was to be avoided.

When the verdict came in rendering the former mayor guilty on 24 counts and his longtime friend Bobby Ferguson guilty on nine counts of racketeering and extortion, the most serious charges, it ended an important chapter in Detroit’s history. His father, Bernard Kilpatrick, was found guilty on one tax charge. Plain and simple, the Kwame Kilpatrick era has officially ended and now Detroit must move on to the next chapter, and we will know this week if that chapter will mean the era of an emergency manager. Kilpatrick had so much potential when he first took office and because of political power and hubris, wasted that potential.

In 2004, Kilpatrick was a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in Boston with then Sen. Barack Obama. Years later, Obama went to the White House and Kilpatrick sunk into insurmountable legal troubles that now will send him to prison for a very long time. How quickly things change and to see history come full circle in this way is a big loss for Detroit because the former mayor was talented but decided to use his talents for something other than upholding the public trust.

The level of arrogance since the Kilpatrick scandals began that the former mayor displayed was unbelievable. Even when his mounting legal troubles began he arrogantly told the news media, “Detroit, you’ve set me up for a comeback,” hoping to be vindicated from all his issues that were at the center of the public corruption trial. Our elected officials should be held to a higher standard, and the lesson here from the Kilpatrick verdict from a very diverse jury is that those who swore to uphold public trust must do so diligently.

This case will go in the annals of history as one of the most riveting trials in public corruption. The diverse jury, which included African Americans and a Hispanic, sent a strong message: No more business as usual in Detroit.

Bankole Thompson author of the latest book “Obama and Christian Loyalty,” is a distinguished journalist and author. Since 2008 he has been a member of the weekly “Obama Watch” Sunday evening program on New York’s WLIB-1190AM. You can tune in every Sunday to hear his take on the Obama administration from 9-10:30pm and simulcast in New Jersey and Connecticut. You can listen to him every Thursday morning on WDET-101.9FM (Detroit NPR Affiliate) where he is a political analyst. Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle and author of the forthcoming book “Rising from the Ashes: Engaging Detroit’s Future with Courage.” No part of this blog must be republished without the appropriate designation or expressed permisison of the author http://www.bankolethompson.com by emailing bankole@bankolethompson.com

By Bankole Thompson
The decision by U.S. Senator Carl Levin to not seek another term in office is not only a blow to Democrats in Michigan but also instantly makes the battle to replace him two years from now a national race. Levin, one of the most influential lawmakers in the country and chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee in the U.S. Senate shocked the political world yesterday when he announced he would be retiring from office when his term ends.

For those who have been reading the political tea leaves this wasn’t a surprise because Levin’s decision to exit the stage was expected in March. His big decision was part of many silent conversations at major political events in the last three months.

But dropping the bomb now had an instant effect given the fact that Democrats in Michigan with a new leadership in Lon Johnson are gearing up to take on Republican Governor Rick Snyder in 2014 as well as the other statewide offices where Republicans are the occupant.

Now they have to also prepare for who will succeed Senator Levin because his seat is one of the most prized political seats in the country. To replace the man who once weiled power as the chairman of the Armed Services Committee will be a dream come true for any Republican in Michigan. Thus this is a battle of ideas as well in terms of the caliber of candidate who would be most successful in replacing Levin.

Aside from 2014, Michigan Democrats and their new chairman Lon Johnson have a huge litmus test to prove that they can fight to keep a Democrat in Levin’s position as well as capture the governorship and other offices. To maintain a Democrat in Levin’s prestigious seat will be a political right of passage for Johnson and if he fails in doing so would spell trouble for Democrats in Michigan.

Democrats certainly are aware that Republicans would make this the fight of the century showing that they have learned their lessons from the failed campaigns of Pete Hoekstra who tried to unseat Senator Debbie Stabenow.

The Michigan Republican Party also has been watching how other GOP candidates around the country failed in unseating prominent Democrats when they tried to push candidates with no political timber except for their Tea Party labels. Like the case in Nevada where the Tea Party thought and came close to unseating Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

A Tea Party candidate would not do it in Michigan and Republicans would have to show they can produce a candidate who bears the attribute of representing all of Michigan not just waving Tea Party flags or being a right wing ideologue. Pete Hoekstra tried using right wing tactics against Stabenow and failed.

Michigan Democrats on the other hand have an opportunity to select a candidate who is not only ambly qualified but also understands Washington and would not need introductions inside the Beltway.

The onus now is on Lon Johnson and his party members to really demonstrate they can deliver on Senator Levin’s seat and also keep their other statewide priorities in order. Failure to replace ensure their Democratic candidates win the seats occupied by the state’s aging Democratic Congressional delegation (such as Levin’s seat) would be a political fatal blow.

The Michigan Democratic Party cannot afford a fight. The smart act would be to rally behind a consensus candidate quickly and start reaching out across the state. Fighting like the Republicans did in the presidential primary which rendered Mitt Romney politically impotent would not help Democrats secure a replacement for Levin’s seat.

Democrats have to show they are united behind whoever the candidate is that can make a case for that prized position. It might sound like too much to chew in the next two years in Michigan but Lon Johnson could not have asked for a more demanding and crucial task before him. It’s time to prove his political mettle.

Bankole Thompson author of the latest book “Obama and Christian Loyalty,” is a distinguished journalist and author. Since 2008 he has been a member of the weekly “Obama Watch” Sunday evening program on New York’s WLIB-1190AM. You can tune in every Sunday to hear his take on the Obama administration from 9-10:30pm and simulcast in New Jersey and Connecticut. You can listen to him every Thursday morning on WDET-101.9FM (Detroit NPR Affiliate) where he is a political analyst. Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle and author of the forthcoming book “Rising from the Ashes: Engaging Detroit’s Future with Courage.” No part of this blog must be republished without the appropriate designation or expressed permisison of the author http://www.bankolethompson.com by emailing bankole@bankolethompson.com

By Bankole Thompson
It’s amazing to watch how hurridly elected officials in Detroit are responding to the threat of an emergency manager. We are hearing all sorts of meetings being held all in a bid to prevent what seems to be the inevitable: an emergency manager is coming unless city officials are willing to make drastic changes NOW.

What is interesting about this last minute preparations and responses is the sense of urgency it has when two years ago it was a different conversation and political climate.

The Detroit City Council and the Office of Mayor Dave Bing waged battles incessantly as if each other was the enemy. With political venom they opposed each other traded insults often like kids just because of political disagreements. Yet in all of these exchanges that we saw as hallmarks of the relationship between the city council and the mayor, there was no real sense of urgency.

But now that the city is in on the verge of a seismic shift in operation with an emergency manager after Gov. Rick Snyder has made it clear that there is financial emergency and something would be done about it, all hell is breaking loose.

Detroit is a city where blame is a staple of the daily politics. Officials like to point fingers at who is responsible for epic failures in this city from one administration to another. But we have to be honest in this case of financial emergency that it is the city council and the mayor that mostly could not come together on so many issues that has got us to this point.

Blaming Gov. Snyder for the financial mess will not stop the financial emergency. The governor was elected to run the state not Detroit. The city council and the mayor were the ones elected to run Detroit and ensure that the next generation of Detroiters have a better and proud place to live in. But they did not do so. They squabbled, fought all day long when they should have been crafting ways to stop the city from financial bleeding. The times spent trading jabs at each other could have been spent discussing ways to generate revenue for the city so Detroit can be on track to financial solvency.

When the city council and the mayor can only be known for the antagonistic relationship that dominated their discussions about moving Detroit forward then something is wrong with Detroit leaders. Hard pressed taxpayers are not getting their fair share of investment in the city.

While the city is on the road to the UNKNOWN, it is important to bear in mind that much of this would not happen today if Detroit’s elected officials have done due diligence and truely answered the call of public service by working to generate revenue, balancing the budget and saving the lives of children dying in this city because either ambulances failed to come early or public safety was not there in time.

Bankole Thompson author of the latest book “Obama and Christian Loyalty,” is a distinguished journalist and author. Since 2008 he has been a member of the weekly “Obama Watch” Sunday evening program on New York’s WLIB-1190AM. You can tune in every Sunday to hear his take on the Obama administration from 9-10:30pm and simulcast in New Jersey and Connecticut. You can listen to him every Thursday morning on WDET-101.9FM (Detroit NPR Affiliate) where he is a political analyst. Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle and author of the forthcoming book “Rising from the Ashes: Engaging Detroit’s Future with Courage.” No part of this blog must be republished without the appropriate designation or expressed permisison of the author http://www.bankolethompson.com by emailing bankole@bankolethompson.com

By Bankole Thompson
After Gov. Rick Snyder declared financial emergency in Detroit this week setting the stage for the appointment of an emergency manager for Michigan’s largest city, it remains to be seen what will happen to turn around Detroit’s finances. An emergency manager for Detroit is being touted as the best bet for the city aside from bankruptcy but it is still a huge gamble for a major urban center like Detroit. But if the governor feels this is the right away for the city the buck stops with the chief executive of the state because every city is a creation of the state.

This is the single biggest issue that will define the legacy of Gov. Snyder because whether the emergency manager succeeds or not will largely depend on the kind of mandate he receieves from the governor.

Yes, the finances of the city are messsed up. The mayor and the city council have turned out to be more of the same than those they replaced when they were elected. It’s hard to point to one single big issue with gigantic positive impact for Detroiters that the mayor and the city council achieved during Mayor Dave Bing’s term in office. The two entities have been in more fighting than mapping out a plan to financial solvency.

But is an emergency manager the magic bullet?

It will depend on that individual and the governor as well as the people of Detroit. In a city where home rule is touted rightly so as the determining factor for Detroit’s governance structure, replacing that democratic system with an individual empowered to make decisions on his or her own is part of the strong opposition to an emergency manager for Detroit. Others are asking who will the emergency manager answer to?

Detroit is part of the state and because of its centrality in this region we don’t expect Gov. Snyder to walk away or abandon the financial crisis that’s holding city services hostage. Something has to be done and the governor has to ensure that he is calling the right shot.

Perhaps things would not have been more complicated and the opposition would have been willing to hear the the governor out had Snyder not passed right-to-work law after initially denying he won’t touch it. Part of the skepticism about Snyder and his administration that many in Detroit have, is that he broke his word on right-to-work which now leaves his critics wondering if he reversed on right-to-work, can he be trusted on Detroit’s finances getting right under an emergency manager? Or will this be a case where consultants jet in from out of state and make millions of dollars in fees and telling the emergency manager where to cut?

The passage of the right-to-work bill doesn’t leave Snyder’s critics with no room to give him the benefit of the doubt on an emergency manager for Detroit. In fact it reinforces their suspicions of the governor and makes it hard for the emergency manager to operate in an atmosphere where the opposition and political spears coming at the individual become so obvious.

Detroit cannot wash its hands of this mess. City leadership is a big part of the reason the city is in financial hardship. Yet the state also has a responsibility and perhaps the governor’s strategists should have been thinking a little bit more futuristic when they made Snyder sign on to right-to-work when he repeatedly denied he would ever touch it.

After that legislation became law, it made it difficult for a city like Detroit, called the home of labor to believe that the governor no matter his good intentions for Detroit ( spending a lot of time speaking to the future of the city) has any serious interest to see Detroit progress. The influence of labor on the fight against emergency manager for Detroit is written all over the arguments against an emergency manager.

Gov. Snyder has indicated he wants Detroit to be front and center of his agenda. Now he owns it and this will define his legacy. He has to call the RIGHT and POSITIVE SHOTS and there is no room for mistakes here because the consequence will be greater than where the city is already at.

Bankole Thompson author of the latest book “Obama and Christian Loyalty,” is a distinguished journalist and author. Since 2008 he has been a member of the weekly “Obama Watch” Sunday evening program on New York’s WLIB-1190AM. You can tune in every Sunday to hear his take on the Obama administration from 9-10:30pm and simulcast in New Jersey and Connecticut. You can listen to him every Thursday morning on WDET-101.9FM (Detroit NPR Affiliate) where he is a political analyst. Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle and author of the forthcoming book “Rising from the Ashes: Engaging Detroit’s Future with Courage.” No part of this blog must be republished without the appropriate designation or expressed permisison of the author http://www.bankolethompson.com by emailing bankole@bankolethompson.com

By Bankole Thompson
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing will give the annual state of the city address Feb.13 at the Detroit School of the Performing Arts. Traditionally, such an address is meant to inspire and create hope in the city while urging the workforce and everyone whose hand is on deck to plough harder for the betterment of the city.

Central to this address the mayor gives a report of what has been done so far to move the city forward and presents new challenges ahead. But if anyone has been following events in Detroit closely, the state of the city is challenged. The state of the city is in a mess. A mounting financial crisis accompanied by half-baked services, an unacceptable EMS service coupled with rampant crime that seems to know no end is part of the state of the city.

Added to this political and economic conundrum is the talk of whether Mayor Bing will exit gracefully at the end of his term or announce that he’ll seek another term. The mayor has been tight-lipped about his political ambition in city government leading many to conclude that he will not be seeking another term in office after a much challenged tenure.

A recent poll showed that only seven percent approve of Bing’s work in the city, a number that is not encouraging for someone who wants another term in office. Though polls do not vote yet that number speaks to a larger discontent about how city government under Bing and certainly the Detroit City Council have responded to pressing issues of the day.

What Bing ought to do is end the speculation and announce Wednesday night that he will either run or not run. This is perhaps his last grand stage where he will commmand the airwaves uninterrupted for an hour speaking directly to the people of Detroit and the region.

The mayor cannot continue to be undecided for so long especially when potential challengers Mike Duggan and Benny Napoleon and candidates Lisa Howze and Fred Durhal are already canvassing votes by talking to people and visiting neighborhood block clubs. Some of them have been firing salvos at the mayor and Bing hasn’t responded as if there is no occupant on the 11th Floor of the Coleman Young Building. Also the talk of an emergency manager for Detroit should compel Bing to make his own announcement now before the arrival of one – if the city underperforms in its financial report due to the governor Feb. 19.

The mayor should defend his record, own it and then tell the people of Detroit whether he will run for mayor again rather than leave everyone in a state of suspence. If he is confident that Detroit can bank on him for another term there should be no hesitation to clear the air about what he will do next.

Beyond the state of the city and shortcomings and achievments that will be rolled out tomorrow night many will be looking to hear if Bing will declare his next political chapter or call it a day in a long and challenging political term in office. Some are hoping that he will leave office while his supporters are whispering that if given another term he can turn things around.

If I were advising Bing as he prepares for his speech, I’ll tell him to clear the air once and for all about his political career at the end of the speech. Detroiters who put Bing in office certainly deserve to know just that.

Bankole Thompson author of the latest book “Obama and Christian Loyalty,” is a distinguished journalist and author. Since 2008 he has been a member of the weekly “Obama Watch” Sunday evening program on New York’s WLIB-1190AM. You can tune in every Sunday to hear his take on the Obama administration from 9-10:30pm and simulcast in New Jersey and Connecticut. You can listen to him every Thursday morning on WDET-101.9FM (Detroit NPR Affiliate) where he is a political analyst. Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle and author of the forthcoming book “Rising from the Ashes: Engaging Detroit’s Future with Courage.” No part of this blog must be republished without the appropriate designation or expressed permisison of the author http://www.bankolethompson.com by emailing bankole@bankolethompson.com

By Bankole Thompson
It is hard to be in the position that the high priest of the Michigan Democratic Party Mark Brewer is in right now. But the signs on the wall were clear, and this day was sure to come when Democrats themselves would wage a battle to unseat the longest serving party chairman in history.

I thought Brewer would have made a graceful exit after the 2010 election that saw Republican control of all the major branches of government in Michigan. Brewer’s argument at the time was that the losses in that election were a national pattern because many Democrats took a beating after the debates on the national health care reform.

Yet it was clear in anyone’s mind that any military general who leads an army to war and lost that general has to turn in his or her resignation right away. That is just the principle standard. If Brewer was a football coach for a college team he would have been long gone with that many losses in the games played. If he was a CEO of a private firm he would have been fired by the board with that many deficits to his resume.

Why didn’t Brewer resign then?

Because the powerful United Auto Workers (UAW) always had his backing. In fact his closeness to the UAW was so evident that anytime Brewer’s name came up in the political chattering class, the UAW was always mentioned as his biggest ally. He was tied to the UAW at both the joint and the hip. And that explains for many of the Michigan Democratic Party’s colossal and epic failures in terms of how one powerful entity had dominant control of the party leading it in one direction. With the UAW as Brewer’s personal political bodyguard it prevented the party from trying candidates that would expand its reach and also helped put real meaning to it as the party of the big tent that is welcoming to everyone.

For instance, the epic failure of the Michigan Democratic Party in denying Richard Bernstein nomination to become Michigan’s first blind Attorney General was in large part due to the dominance of the UAW and Brewer. So much for a party that calls itself the party of the big tent. Bernstein, an incredibly brilliant lawyer who did not take the LSAT to enter law school, but instead wrote a thesis arguing how the LSAT was discriminatory against the blind and got into law school as a result of that would have made by all accounts a strong attorney general.

But now the very UAW that protected Brewer all along is undergoing a political transfiguration itself with its new exciting leader Bob King who is now openly pushing for Brewer’s final exit. Did it have to take the arrival of the King for Brewer to exit the stage now?

The Michigan Democratic Party cannot blame their failures alone at the feet of Brewer who is undergoing a public political crucifixion in a way no one imagined would happen to a man that commanded the stage that long. But if you observe how dictators in third world nations are overthrown, it is normally through very public political crucifixions where their own people crying out in the streets finally saying they’ve had enough call for their resignation. Though Brewer is not a third world dictator, he stayed this long because the party leadership including institutions like the UAW allowed it to happen. They cannot blame Brewer alone because their hands are not clean either.

The political Damascus or the tipping point for the party should have been in 2010 when they lost the Governorship, the Legislature, Supreme Court, Secretary of State and Attorney General. Added to that was the late lackluster fight to prevent Congressional redistricting even though the issue was never made a political voting incentive before the 2010 election.

In a rare move the Michigan Democratic Congressional delegation is abandoning Brewer which is perhaps the biggest blow aside from his former ally the UAW. The vote of no confidence expressed by the delegation could be Brewer’s undoing even though the man created by the UAW is insistent on seeking another term. He’s headed to the party convention Feb 23 at Cobo Hall in downtown Detroit for a real floor showdown either to show his mastery of the institution he led for decades or to nakedly shame and expose the party that wants him out now.

Brewer is setting a historic precedent because if he prevails at the convention then it shows how weak the Michigan Democratic Party has become all these years. From there the Michigan Democratic Party can change its name to the Mark Brewer Party.

Brewer is employing a Tea Party strategy hoping that delegates from around the state can see what he has done and he’s got some real support for it. He can describe his fight for re-election as a battle against the Democratic Party status quo even though he himself is the status quo. And all voters need to see to believe is to cynically read into the Michigan Democratic Congressional delegation’s opposition to Brewer and call it the status quo/Washington type battle against Brewer. This is a classic Tea Party battle that Brewer is waging.

The next leadership of the Michigan Democratic Party will have to step up and reach out to minorities and young voters. The next leaderhip of the party will have to do more than just engage Detroit three weeks or months before the next election.

The next leadership of the party will have to stop buying into the narrative that minority candidates or candidates who push minority issues are not electable on the other side of the state.

In the past qualified African Americans and other minority candidates seeking higher offices have been relegated to the dogma or old narrative that they can’t be elected statewide. As a result they are hardly assisted in fundraising and their efforts are minimized to that effect rendering them virtually unable to win. If the party leadership believes in their ability to govern and knowledge of the issues affecting Michiganders then it should support these candidates without resignation or reservation.

When newly sworn Supreme Court Justice Bridget McCormack first began thinking about the idea of running for the Michigan Supreme Court some in the party were afraid that her association with the University of Michigan Innocence Clinic which she co-founded would have been a major sticking issue for voters on the west side of the state.

Why?

Because of the sentencing disparities most of the people the clinic has helped so far to gain their freedom as a result of wrongful convictions have been African Americans and other minorities. So some were already pushing the narrative that a candidate with a resume of fighting for minority issues won’t have a chance even though the party should be working to change that kind of deep seated narrative not promote it.

But McCormack did the unconventional and reached out to those very minority groups including Hispanics, African Americans, Arab Americans, Jews and others across the state as well as white voters and got their support to earn the title Justice McCormack. With the support of some outside-the-box thinking leaders in the Michigan Democratic Party looking for change coupled with a diverse community support McCormack waged an uncoventional and an inclusive campaign that landed her on the state’s highest court.

If Brewer must go then Democrats have to be ready to install a leader that will offer real change, unconventional ways of expanding the party and no longer play to the same old lines of associations that often has hurt the party more than it helped. A real change not the same old tactics that weakened the party and rendered it almost impotent in winning elections in Michigan.

Democrats, you have your work cut out for you. Feb 23 will prove if the party and the army of delegates expected to descend on Cobo Hall get it.

Bankole Thompson author of “Obama and Christian Loyalty,” is a distinguished journalist and presidential author. Since 2008 he has been a member of the weekly “Obama Watch” Sunday evening program on New York’s WLIB-1190AM. You can tune in every Sunday to hear his take on the Obama administration from 9-10:30pm and simulcast in New Jersey and Connecticut. You can listen to him every Thursday morning on WDET-101.9FM (Detroit NPR Affiliate) where he is a political analyst. Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle and author of the forthcoming book “Rising from the Ashes: Engaging Detroit’s Future with Courage.” No part of this blog must be republished without the appropriate designation or expressed permisison of the author http://www.bankolethompson.com

By Bankole Thompson
Crystal Crittendon, the fired Detroit corporation counsel did what many in politics often choose to ignore. And that is to come back and run against the administration that removed them from office by tapping into the frustration of residents about that administration, or challenge the chief executive they fought with publicly over hot button public policy issues.

However Crittendon made a well politically calculated move yesterday when she announced that she will be running for mayor of Detroit in the coming mayoral race, an apparent rebuke of her former boss Mayor Dave Bing. The embattled lawyer who once headed the city’s law department until her public spat with Mayor Bing chose Bert’s marketplace for the announcement, a place that is known to be the rallying point for many commmunity events in the city. In choosing Bert’s as the venue she presented herself as the community and grassroots candidate in this race.

It is a shrewd political move by Crittendon because she can now present herself as the most visible villain in an alleged political manipulation by the Bing administration, and therefore will automatically garner sympathy votes as well as support from voters who vehemently opposed Bing’s reelection in the first place.

She enjoys the support of what has been termed as the “vocal minority” and will also get the support of residents who believe her firing has all to do with the makings of the long narrative in Detroit politics called “takeover” a theme some council members have been echoing in their opposition to Mayor Bing and Gov. Rick Snyder.

An added advantage for Crittendon is support from some female voters who see Detroit politics as an old boy’s club where women hardly rise to any prominent position only after a long protracted battle. She’ll tap into that political plank as well because she is not brainless like Sarah Palin. She was the city’s chief lawyer.

Last year at the height of her fight with Mayor Bing some members of a black lawyers group in Detroit distributed emails urging an instant halt to what they termed as an orchestrated campaign to silence Crittendon. The emails were just an indication of the broad support she has among some constituent organizations who are not the celebrated mainstream organizations but effective enough at the levels in which they operate and channel information to their membership.

Detroit is home to many grassroots organization born out of the desire to effect change in government from the bottom. How do they do this is up for debate but a Crittendon candidacy can be viewed by some of these groups as perhaps the only way to change how government has worked in Detroit.

Perhaps Mike Duggan understands that which is why the former CEO of the Detroit Medical Center has been meeting Detroiters in impoverished neighborhoods that are begging for city hall attention. The fact that Duggan has been having these meetings about 40 of them in living rooms of those cut out of the discourse about Detroit’s future shows how this mayoral election will shape. It also explains why the base Crittendon is going after matters.

Benny Napoleon, the Wayne County Sheriff also has initiated a listening tour to do pretty much the same, underscoring the importance of this base which he alluded to in his Palmer Woods remarks about the mass underclass in Detroit.

Crittendon’s campaign announcement presented her as a political villain in Detroit’s long political struggle. Whether you agree with it or not. What matters often in politics is for the factor to tell her own side of the story in a television ad or campaign literature highlighting the pains and tribulations and the response from voters become swift because emotional politics has always worked from national elections to local elections. She will be viewed as the political sacrificial lamb of the Bing administration whether fact or fiction.

It is too early to tell whether her campaign will make any significant headway yet but it will be foolish for anyone observing the landscape to ignore her candidacy as a factor. She’s going after the protest vote enough to make a legitimate presence on the mayoral campaign trail and present arguments that will otherwise be out of the discourse of the campaign.

For the other mayoral candidates in the race she could be the Ralph Nader or Ron Paul enough to make a political scare with consequences because she has identified a niche. She can’t be ignored. The mayoral campaign has just started.

Bankole Thompson author of “Obama and Christian Loyalty,” is a distinguished journalist and presidential author. Since 2008 he has been a member of the weekly “Obama Watch” Sunday evening program on New York’s WLIB-1190AM. You can tune in every Sunday to hear his take on the Obama administration from 9-10:30pm and simulcast in New Jersey and Connecticut. You can listen to him every Thursday morning on WDET-101.9FM (Detroit NPR Affiliate) where he is a political analyst. Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle and author of the forthcoming book “Rising from the Ashes: Engaging Detroit’s Future with Courage.” No part of this blog must be republished without the appropriate designation or expressed permisison of the author http://www.bankolethompson.com