If only they could drop 33 million a bag at a time

Dowagiac Daily News If only they could drop $33 million a bag at a time Monday, September 11, 2006 11:30 AM EDT With two months to go until Michigan's Nov. 7 election, spending on the governor's race is at $33 million and counting.After crossing the Mackinac Bridge Labor Day, Democratic Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm chanted her party's mantra that Nov. 7 is an election, "not an auction." Personally, I think we'd have something if they just took all that money and carpet bombed the state a sack of cash at a time.People would surely be in a more upbeat, hopeful mood than the fatigue they will feel after exposure to all those nasty attack ads. Republican Dick DeVos kicked in another $3.25 million from his considerable fortune.Through Aug. 28 his own contributions exceed $16.1 million toward a $26.1 million total. Granholm furnished her $12 million war chest $3,400.DeVos likes to point out that he also raised more than $800,000 from more than 5,000 supporters between July 24 and Aug. 28, according to campaign-finance documents filed Sept. 7 with the Secretary of State.DeVos spent more than $4 million during the period of the Aug. 8 primary - 86 percent of it on TV advertising.Almost 22,000 donors have given his campaign $5.2 million since DeVos announced his candidacy in June 2005.The incumbent raised $882,000 during that four-week reporting period, spending $440,000 on ads. She had $7.3 million cash on hand.Granholm is entitled under state law to $1.1 million in public funding given that DeVos has surpassed $340,000 in personal contributions.If DeVos continues at his current pace, the nine-year Alticor president (1993-2002) would be projected to shell out another $9 million of his own money on the contest.Why would anyone want to be governor of Michigan this bad?DeVos must regard Lansing as a launching pad to the White House.The rest of us are left to parse Democrats' claims DeVos laid off 1,400 workers at Alticor during his nine-year tenure while at the same time investing $200 million in Alticor manufacturing operations in China.The DeVos camp says that while 1,400 jobs were eliminated, only 600 workers were laid off.In his own 60-second rebuttal spot, DeVos says there was no connection between job losses and the China investment.Devos implies that Granholm approved $2 billion in tax hikes in less than four years in office.The figure, however, includes a cigarette tax increase and assorted fee boosts either agreed to or proposed by Republicans to close gaping budget deficits left by the Engler administration.Regime rival: Saddam Hussein regarded al-Qaida as a threat, not a possible ally, concludes a Senate report released Sept. 8 contradicting President Bush's assertions to build support for invading Iraq.Quips, quotes and qulunkers: "Political correctness dies hard in the West. Even President Bush, who famously visited a Washington, D.C., mosque shortly after 9/11 to demonstrate his belief that Islam is a 'religion of peace,' has changed his tune and has labeled the enemy 'Islamofascists.' Britain's Sussex police sent officers for 'diversity training' to an Islamic school that they subsequently raided as part of a crackdown on those who recruit and train Jihadist warriors. Don't the cops have it backward? Shouldn't the people in that school be subjected to diversity training and taught the concepts of pluralism and religious freedom? Who is attempting to blow up more airplanes? Who has sworn to murder all 'infidels?' It isn't British police officers ... Why do Americans have to be reminded to remember? ... The enemy won't forget ... He thinks he can wait us out. He thinks we're weak and will wilt before his demands in order to save our lives."- syndicated columnist Cal Thomas