Interviewed, edited and condensed by Berl Schwartz.
You surprised a lot of political pundits when your party upset Cliff Taylor.
We were pleased with all of the victories up and down the ballot. None was sweeter than beating Cliff Taylor.
You put a lot of resources into this Cliff Taylor race, both money and publicity. How many people told you that you were crazy for putting this kind of energy into a Cliff Taylor race?
Nobody. People wanted this and even with all of the resources and the work we put in, we were still vastly outspent by Taylor and the Republicans and the Chamber of Commerce. Inside the Democratic Party, that race was one of our top goals for the last two years.
What was different about this one? You’ve tried to unseat Republican-nominated justices before and fell far short in very sorry efforts. What was the difference?
We did a better job with voter education both in terms of Taylor’s record and how to vote in the nonpartisan part of the ballot. Even though we were outspent three or four to one on TV, our ads for media, our mail, were more effective than what we had on the other side.
Now that it’s all over, you beat the guy, was he ever really asleep on the bench?
I believe the two witnesses who were in our ads, who were willing to go on statewide TV, who were willing to sign an affidavit on their own saying they saw Cliff Taylor asleep. I’m told by people in the court that he’s not the only judge. You may hear more about that in 2010.
Some of these cases are just boring.
That’s no excuse. You need to pay attention to decide these cases, particularly for the people who are in court. This is their day in court. For many of these folks, this is a hugely important moment in their lifetime. You would think, at a minimum, the justices could pay attention and stay awake.
You mean you haven’t taken a doze at your desk?
I do not sleep when I’m working.
You bought Cliff Taylor’s car at auction to make a point. Do you still drive it around.
I’m sitting in Cliff Taylor’s car as we speak. It looks like Cliff Taylor’s car is going to outlast Cliff Taylor.
How quickly will you sell it after Jan. 1?
No, it gets good mileage. It’s in good repair. I typically drive cars into the ground so I’m hoping to get another 100, 150,000 miles out of this car.
How many pieces of that Reform Michigan Government Now ballot proposal do you think we’re going to see again?
The people of Michigan want reform. There’s no question that the ballot proposal would have passed overwhelmingly if it had gotten on the ballot. There’s still a great need out there to streamline and reform state government. Redistricting still needs reform. Pay, benefits and perks are still too high. We’re not going to give up on our efforts to reform state government.
How many lawmakers defriended you on Facebook after it became known you popped that thing?
None on Facebook, but as I explained to people, you can’t deny that the voters want to see their state government share in the sacrifices. Worst economy since the Great Depression in this state and we haven’t seen the end of it. And the voters think it’s time that state government share in some of those sacrifices.
In high school you were voted Class what?
Most likely to succeed.
Are you already thinking about 2010?
Absolutely. Bob Young is in our sights. We’ve got the governor’s race, state attorney general, the Legislature. We need to make sure we send Mark Schauer and Gary Peters back to Congress. It’s going to be a full agenda.
Would Jennifer Granholm be your ideal candidate to run in 2010 for the state Supreme Court seat?
She’d be a great candidate. She’s obviously well known. She’s a terrific lawyer. I think she’d be a great judge in that position if she wanted to go, but I think she’s got a lot of public service in her to worry about the judiciary, yet.
Some thoughts on Jan. 20. How will you be spending that day?
I’ll be there. I’ll be one of the millions of people standing on the mall with binoculars for the actual swearing in. It will be very, very exciting. It’s the culmination of election night. I cried as the results came in. I was at the Electoral College the other day. It brought a tear to my eye. This is historic in so many ways. It’s just nice to be a small part of it.
You surprised a lot of political pundits when your party upset Cliff Taylor.
We were pleased with all of the victories up and down the ballot. None was sweeter than beating Cliff Taylor.
You put a lot of resources into this Cliff Taylor race, both money and publicity. How many people told you that you were crazy for putting this kind of energy into a Cliff Taylor race?
Nobody. People wanted this and even with all of the resources and the work we put in, we were still vastly outspent by Taylor and the Republicans and the Chamber of Commerce. Inside the Democratic Party, that race was one of our top goals for the last two years.
What was different about this one? You’ve tried to unseat Republican-nominated justices before and fell far short in very sorry efforts. What was the difference?
We did a better job with voter education both in terms of Taylor’s record and how to vote in the nonpartisan part of the ballot. Even though we were outspent three or four to one on TV, our ads for media, our mail, were more effective than what we had on the other side.
Now that it’s all over, you beat the guy, was he ever really asleep on the bench?
I believe the two witnesses who were in our ads, who were willing to go on statewide TV, who were willing to sign an affidavit on their own saying they saw Cliff Taylor asleep. I’m told by people in the court that he’s not the only judge. You may hear more about that in 2010.
Some of these cases are just boring.
That’s no excuse. You need to pay attention to decide these cases, particularly for the people who are in court. This is their day in court. For many of these folks, this is a hugely important moment in their lifetime. You would think, at a minimum, the justices could pay attention and stay awake.
You mean you haven’t taken a doze at your desk?
I do not sleep when I’m working.
You bought Cliff Taylor’s car at auction to make a point. Do you still drive it around.
I’m sitting in Cliff Taylor’s car as we speak. It looks like Cliff Taylor’s car is going to outlast Cliff Taylor.
How quickly will you sell it after Jan. 1?
No, it gets good mileage. It’s in good repair. I typically drive cars into the ground so I’m hoping to get another 100, 150,000 miles out of this car.
How many pieces of that Reform Michigan Government Now ballot proposal do you think we’re going to see again?
The people of Michigan want reform. There’s no question that the ballot proposal would have passed overwhelmingly if it had gotten on the ballot. There’s still a great need out there to streamline and reform state government. Redistricting still needs reform. Pay, benefits and perks are still too high. We’re not going to give up on our efforts to reform state government.
How many lawmakers defriended you on Facebook after it became known you popped that thing?
None on Facebook, but as I explained to people, you can’t deny that the voters want to see their state government share in the sacrifices. Worst economy since the Great Depression in this state and we haven’t seen the end of it. And the voters think it’s time that state government share in some of those sacrifices.
In high school you were voted Class what?
Most likely to succeed.
Are you already thinking about 2010?
Absolutely. Bob Young is in our sights. We’ve got the governor’s race, state attorney general, the Legislature. We need to make sure we send Mark Schauer and Gary Peters back to Congress. It’s going to be a full agenda.
Would Jennifer Granholm be your ideal candidate to run in 2010 for the state Supreme Court seat?
She’d be a great candidate. She’s obviously well known. She’s a terrific lawyer. I think she’d be a great judge in that position if she wanted to go, but I think she’s got a lot of public service in her to worry about the judiciary, yet.
Some thoughts on Jan. 20. How will you be spending that day?
I’ll be there. I’ll be one of the millions of people standing on the mall with binoculars for the actual swearing in. It will be very, very exciting. It’s the culmination of election night. I cried as the results came in. I was at the Electoral College the other day. It brought a tear to my eye. This is historic in so many ways. It’s just nice to be a small part of it.
