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Here’s another one of those “who cares” articles (below) that no one will get excited about.

• Liberals won’t get excited; none from their side will care!
• Pocketbook-Democrats (non-Liberals) won’t get excited; none from their side will care!
• Media won’t get excited; none from their side will care!
• Republicans (some) will get worked up; those few who do will have no more effect than a sparrow belching in a windstorm!
• Fence-sitters (moderates/centrists who all this campaigning is for) will not hear of it since there will be little media reporting. They won’t hear of it because that’s what they do; they don’t pay attention!

So what should be done with this? Have some fun with it! Pull a Rush Limbaugh/Sean Hannity moment… Change Granholm’s name to DeVos, change a couple more words, and slip it to the media… The media will run it without checking ‘cause that’s what they do (Dan Rather-Gate, etc.)!

What great fun!

 Full article follows…

Firm tied to Granholm nears deal

February 28, 2006

BY DAWSON BELL

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

A Farmington Hills advertising firm with little experience in government promotion but long-standing ties to Gov. Jennifer Granholm is poised to land a $19.5-million contract to help pitch the state as a great place to do business.

Duffey Petrosky & Co. would run a marketing campaign that will begin in March and continue through October 2007 at a cost of more than $1 million a month, which -- excluding the Michigan Lottery -- is one of the largest-ever state advertising contracts.

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. awarded the contract last week, but it must pass two final approval hearings, including one today.

Money for the contract comes from the 21st Century Jobs plan approved in December by Granholm and the Legislature. The ad campaign is intended to lure business and investors to Michigan by, among other things, offering grants for high-tech enterprise.

The contract was awarded at the same time the Michigan Economic Development Corp. announced a contract for a similar value to McCann Erickson USA to promote Michigan tourism.

The principals in Duffey Petrosky have made contributions to Granholm in her campaign for attorney general and governor and are listed in campaign reports as vendors for the 2002 campaign.

On its Web site, Duffey Petrosky lists Mentor Michigan, the mentoring program led by Dan Mulhern, Granholm's husband, as a pro bono client. The site lists no other government agencies as clients.

Before moving to Lansing, Granholm and Mulhern lived on the same block in a Northville Township subdivision as Mark Petrosky, a principal of the firm.

Mike Shore, spokesman for the Michigan Economic Development Corp., said a committee of its board members and state government officials was not influenced by those connections in awarding the contract.

"It was a competitive process, and they were one of four proposals that made the finals," Shore said. "They had the highest score."

Granholm campaign spokesman Chris DeWitt said he knows very little about the contract or Duffey Petrosky. The governor is acquainted with the partners, he said, but it is not unusual for the governor to know prominent business owners.

DeWitt said he had no recollection of their connection to the earlier campaigns. Campaign reports indicate Duffey Petrosky was paid about $15,000 for video production on Granholm for Governor in 2002.

Contact DAWSON BELL at 313-222-6604 or dbell@freepress.com