The campaign finance fallout continues for James Craig, who violated a “pretty important conservative value” and displayed a “lack of fiscal responsibility” after he reported spending more than he raised in the final quarter of 2021. Here’s how the rest of the gubernatorial pack shuffled around in the clown car this week now that “Craig is no longer the top dog.”
Rinke, Dixon, and Soldano Campaigned Against Michigan’s Economy
No other way to put it. This week, as the Ambassador Bridge blockade forced auto assembly plants to cut shifts and halt production in Michigan, Kevin Rinke and Garrett Soldano rushed to support the major hit to the industry, working families that saw their wages reduced by $51 million, and the economy as a whole.
On the same day Michiganders were being forced out of work, Rinke and Soldano both released videos applauding the blockade that has been grinding commerce and manufacturing to a halt all week. This morning, Tudor Dixon and Mike Brown also tweeted in favor of the blockade.
Craig’s Opposition to Growth
What’s the angle to opposing expanding our economy, attracting good-paying jobs to the state, making public education more equitable, honoring frontline workers for getting us through the worst days of this pandemic, making continued critical repairs and improvements to our roads and bridges, or cutting costs for seniors?
After Governor Whitmer unveiled her budget this week that proposed doing all of the above and then some – without raising taxes – James Craig went out of his way to oppose each and every one of these major solutions to keep Michigan working families first, singling out teachers by saying “we should not reward people just showing up to work.”
Craig also reduced the rest of the budget to simply “throwing money at problems” in an interview with Fox 2 Detroit. If throwing money down a hole were anyone’s objective here, his campaign would be better funded.
But we suppose more can’t be expected from the same candidate that said the voucher-induced funding death spiral he’s gunning to make public schools go through would lead cash-strapped districts to make “magical things begin to happen.”
Dixon Keeps Leveling Broadsides at Rinke
The messy infighting picked up this week as Tudor Dixon took on millionaire Toyota salesman Kevin Rinke. This week, she– *ehem* we mean the pro-Dixon but totally independent PAC Michigan Strong, launched an entire microsite fleshing out many of the points made in the “Simply Unelectable” ad released by the group this month.
In particular, KevinRinkeFacts.com goes after the many lawsuits the out-of-touch millionaire racked up over the years as a result of the toxic workplace environment he created and maintained at his dealerships. Rinke “believed he could get away with anything” and allegedly asked a female employee if she was wearing matching underwear, made lewd sexual gestures, employed “relentless racial slurs,” and even made sexually suggestive comments about infants.
Since the constant barrage of offensive comments and racist language pushed employees to quit and cost Rinke thousands in settlement fees, the microsite even features a tip line for former employees to air their aggravations.
And Now, a Moment for the Arts
Soldano is continuing to suffer the negative press consequences of Soldanoing, a new term we just coined that means to engage in the act of unabashedly spewing wildly offensive takes that no one asked for even a little bit.
The last major Soldano was of course when he stated that women who are raped should not be able to have abortions because “God put them in this moment” and it would make them “heroic.”
Michigan Radio cartoonist John Auchter perfectly captured the callousness of the snake oil salesman with a simple two panel comic showing how dangerous his agenda is for Michigan women and families.
