foolmenot.comGlaring out at us in the article below are quotes by Ed Sarpolus, pollster for EPIC/MRA. According to Sarpolus, his research tells us that Michigan voters have no contact with the outside world; that they believe President Bush allowed all other states to have a great economy at the expense of Michigan...
Can this be true, or does Ed Sarpolus lean to the left?
It would be fun to take a look at Ed’s “recent polls”-- and how the questions were asked…
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
By Steven Harmon
The Grand Rapids Press
GRAND RAPIDS -- James Ward could be bitter toward Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who has overseen an economy that has been harsh to him and thousands of others out of work.
Instead, Ward, laid off a year ago from Electrolux without any job prospects, lays the blame on larger issues, such as global trade.
"I don't hold her responsible for my situation or the situation in the state," said Ward, 52, of Algoma Township, whose wife has supported him financially in his yearlong job search. "(Granholm's) trying everything she can, looking to diversify the economy."
Self-employed businessman David Cook thinks otherwise, especially after Ford Motor Co.'s announcement this week it was eliminating up to 30,000 jobs and closing 14 plants, including one in suburban Detroit.
He pins the blame squarely on Granholm, saying she has missed opportunities to improve Michigan's economy by thwarting Republican tax-cut plans.
"She doesn't see beyond the end of her nose," said Cook, 44, of Sparta, a construction consultant. "She's responsible for the economy if for no more reason than she's been shortsighted on the effects of business creating more business."
The debate over Granholm's economic stewardship will be an underlying theme of her fourth State of the State speech tonight.
Political opponents have tried to lash her to an economy that has remained stagnant for her entire tenure, while supporters say it already had begun to slide on the watch of her predecessor, John Engler. Granholm backers also blame Republicans for stymieing her job-creating agenda.
Cathey Manning, the owner of a Shell station in Grand Rapids, said she just wishes the politicians would quit sniping and look for real solutions.
"It's very difficult to get things moving for the governor this late in the game," said Manning, a former member of the Grand Rapids Board of Zoning Appeals. "The problem is that the governor has had time, and now has to come back with some plan and hope people go along.
"And you have the new guy saying, 'Take a look at me,' " she said, referring to Dick DeVos, the GOP's gubernatorial candidate and former CEO of Ada-based Alticor Inc. "In that environment, it's difficult to be hopeful in terms of concrete proposals."
With Granholm's re-election campaign coming into fuller view, all eyes will be on the economy and whether her fortunes are tied to it, said Ed Sarpolus, pollster for EPIC/MRA.
"Right now, voters see it more as a national economy," he said. "But, she's got to show she's on the job so she's got to go after small accomplishments to show she's getting something done."
In recent polls, voters, by a 2-to-1 margin, blame President Bush rather than Granholm for the loss of jobs and the ailing economy, Sarpolus said. They also think the governor's doing a better job than the Republican Legislature by a two-to-one margin.
"The public doesn't view the Republican mantra of tax cuts as a solution because all of the tax cuts go to businesses," Sarpolus said. "The people who are benefiting from tax cuts are the same people who are laying them off, in voters' minds."
Bill Ballenger, editor of Inside Michigan Politics, thinks Granholm may be in jeopardy if things don't begin to turn around.
"She's been cut a lot of slack by the public for three years," said Ballenger, a former Republican state senator. "But you can see signs of people getting restless, and criticism is mounting, at least mildly, in certain quarters. The longer time goes on and things don't happen, the more and more skeptical the public gets."