Election day

The Michigan Republican primary is today. It's an open primary, meaning any registered voter can wander into the polls and cast a ballot. The S.O. is contemplating doing so, and, depending on who's still on the ballot, throwing his support behind someone who is sufficiently obscure that the candidate he selects is  probably going to finish in last place. His only goal would be to reduce the percentages going to the top two contenders by a minuscule amount. I haven't heard if many non-Republicans are planning to attempt to piss in the soup this year, so the S.O.'s actions may qualify as more quixotic than usual, even for him. I'm not registered to vote in Michigan yet, so it's not an issue for me.

Back in 2000, when George W. Bush was jostling with John McCain for the top spot on the Republican ticket, Michigan's non-Republicans did come out in sufficient numbers to play havoc with the results. Our then-Governor, John Engler, was a strong aWol supporter -- he promised Bush he would deliver the state for him. There was a lot of talk of putting Engler on the ticket for V.P. if Bush carried Michigan in the primary. Unfortunately for Engler, he was sufficiently despised by that time that no one wanted to see his party loyalty rewarded: Democrats and independents went to the polls to vote for McCain in that open primary, and McCain won. It no doubt helped that back then, given a choice between McCain and aWol, McCain seemed like a more rational choice. aWol was not happy, and all the chatter about Engler being a rising star evaporated instantly, as did whatever political aspirations he may have still had. The chatter about national office stopped; Engler lost his 2002 bid for another term as governor and vanished into obscurity.