Rachel Maddow Video: Hostile Nerd takeover

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Rachel Maddow video: Benton Harbor takeover

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M.C.L Comment: This report should make the local news networks ashamed of themselves, Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow and Randi Rhodes have done more reporting on the Snyder administration than channel 2,4 and 7 combine. Sorry to break it to the news stations a governor granting one person the ability to get rid of a city's entire government is bigger than a special interest stories of a woman and her wedding day promise.

While it's a cool story and all but what Rick Snyder and his Republican flunkies in Lansing are allowing to happen set a  precedent and the media have a obligation to tell the people what the hell is going on in their backyard.

Republican PAC attacking Bernero is bullying TV stations into silence

by: Communications Guru via blogging for Michigan/The Conservative Media

Rich Robinson, the director of the non-profit Michigan Campaign Finance Network, says the Republican Governors Association (RGA) has been "bullying" Michigan television stations into not revealing to the public the size of their substantial ad buys, according to a story in subscription only MIRS.

The RGA has been doing the dirty work for Rick "Chief Executive Outsourcer" Snyder" by running baseless attack ads against Democratic Gubernatorial nominee Virg Bernero. This allows the Outsourcer to not only keep his millions, but more importantly, it allows him to keep up the lie that his candidacy is not politics as usual and keeps his hands clean.

The current ad the RGA is running almost non-stop is a cheap knockoff of the well known MasterCard "Priceless" ads, but the problem is MIRS already debunked it.

News Corp., which owns Faux "News, recently gave the Republican Governors Association (RGA) $1 million to run these attack ads. Not only that, the RGA has spent more money in Michigan than any other PAC in 2010, with $4 million raised.

Robinson, who routinely compiles how much money is spent on TV ads, said the RGA does not want stations to let the public know how much they are spending, and they are punishing those that dare to be transparent. Surprisingly, Robinson said the Michigan campaign finance laws do not require that TV and radio stations make the ad buys public. However, that's not the case at the federal level.

"They (RGA) are really trying to control the dimensions of the screen," Robinson told MIRS. "A lot of (the TV stations) are caving in. The one exception I've noticed is WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids. WOOD wouldn't take their money. But others have caved. It pits the public's right to know against the station's responsibilities to its stockholders."

Just one more reason not to trust the Outsourcer.

Bernero vs Outsource Nerd

By CHRIS CHRISTOFF

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero has won the Democratic primary for governor, topping House Speaker Andy Dillon, according to Detroit Free Press/Channel 7 results from a sampling of 79 key voter precincts around the state.

Key precints
With 75 key precincts reporting
GOP Governor
Mike Bouchard	12.6%
Mike Cox	21.8%
Tom George	1.5%
Pete Hoekstra	27.3%
Rick Snyder	36.8%
Democrat Governor
Virg Bernero	61.6%
Andy Dillon	38.4%
With 27 key precincts reporting
Democrat 13th District
John Broad	5%
Vincent Brown	2%
Hansen Clarke	47%
Stephen Hume	2.3%
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick	40%
Glen Plummer	3.8%

Bernero led Dillon, 62% to 38%, 75 of the 79 precincts reporting results.

Snyder, who’s never run for elected office before and has spent nearly $6 million of his own money on his campaign, was banking on Democrats and independent voters to cross over to his side in an effort to upset the GOP establishment, which is largely behind Cox and Hoekstra. Free Press interviews with voters suggest some and perhaps many are doing so.

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard was hoping for a late surge with a substantial television ad campaign, while state Sen. Tom George of Kalamazoo trailed far behind.

At Ferndale High School, voter Joan Taylor, 49, of Ferndale said she voted for Democrats most of her life, but this time she went for Republican Snyder. She said she is tired of partisan politics.

“If we are going to be moving forward, I think we need to move forward together,” Taylor said.

Bernero gets endorsement of 2 women's groups

ASSOCIATED PRESS Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero has won the endorsement of two groups that support abortion rights. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan and the Michigan National Organization for Women said today they're backing Bernero in the governor's race.

The Lansing mayor is running against House Speaker Andy Dillon for the Democratic nomination. Dillon opposes abortion.

The groups say in a news release that Bernero will protect "a woman's right to choose" and fight to end gender bias in the workplace.

Five Republicans also are running for governor. Right to Life of Michigan has endorsed GOP Attorney General Mike Cox, although all five say they're abortion opponents.

Voters will choose winners in the Aug. 3 primary election.