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Looking back on the Michigan GOP's biennial conference

By Bluey Posted in 2008 — Comments (14) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

I'm on my way home from Mackinac Island, Mich., where the state Republican Party held its 27th biennial conference this weekend. This year's conference was the biggest (and, according to many attendees, the best) ever in the 54 years since it began. More than 2,000 people attended and another 1,000 activists flocked to the beautiful Grand Hotel to take part in the festivities.

The highlight of the weekend for me was watching six presidential candidates court Michigan Republicans. With the state's primary set to take place on Jan. 15 -- following Iowa on Jan. 3 and New Hampshire on Jan. 8 -- the 1.2 million Republicans expected to vote in the primary will carry much clout. It's for that reason that six of them went out of their way to visit the remote island.

I've already written about each candidate -- some approvingly, others disapprovingly -- but I wanted to tie it all together with my thoughts on the winners and losers. (And just because Mitt Romney won the Hotline straw poll doesn't mean I consider him a winner.)

Continued on the jump ...

Winners

Rudy Giuliani -- The former New York mayor had the benefit of leading off at dinner on Friday night, using his speech to articulate his views on U.S. fiscal policy and the war on Islamic terrorists. But Giuliani accomplished something else that I found lacking in the other speakers -- he explained why he was the candidate who could beat a Democrat in November 2008. Giuliani mentioned Sen. Hillary Clinton by name at least 10 times, according to Shira Toeplitz of the Hotline. He also aggressively attacked MoveOn, the far-left organization that smeared Gen. David Petraeus in a New York Times ad. Giuliani and MoveOn have traded jabs repeatedly since then. By focusing on Democrats -- and emphasizing his appeal in traditionally blue states -- Giuliani showed why he's the man to beat.

Saul Anuzis -- The Michigan Republican Party chairman was widely praised for organizing and carrying out a remarkable event. Attendees seemed to be enjoying themselves every moment they were on the island. The jam-packed program featured national figures in Republican politics and conservative circles. The workshops (including the online activism one where I spoke) were lively with great audience participation. But clearly Anuzis' biggest accomplishment was convincing six presidential candidates to make the trip to Mackinac Island. It's not an easy destination -- accessible by ferry after flying to a small airport in Pellston, Mich. But with the stakes high for next year's GOP primary, Anuzis worked his magic and managed to put together a program that gave each candidate an opportunity to make his case to Michigan Republicans.

Newt Gingrich -- He didn't have the prime-time speaking slot of Giuliani, Sen. John McCain or Fred Thompson, but he still managed to draw an overflow crowd to his 10 a.m. address on Saturday. Gingrich gave an outstanding talk, but that's to be expected from him. With his big Solutions Day events taking place in Atlanta on Thursday and all across the country on Saturday, this weekend was a good opportunity to promote it. Conservatives will be closely watching what comes after Solutions Day. In Fred Thompson continues to underwhelm audiences, Gingrich might be tempted to toss his hat in the ring. Such a move would be greeted favorably if the reaction to his speech and chatter in Michigan were any indication. It was a savvy move on Gingrich's part to travel to Mackinac Island -- and even better luck that he got his own speaking slot not at breakfast, lunch or dinner. (The dining room was shaped in a way that prevented most diners to actually see the speaker; televisions were used to broadcast their speeches.)

Losers

Fred Thompson -- It's hard for me to put Thompson on this list, but I've heard too many bad things about his speech not to include him. Thompson was clearly a hit in one-on-one greetings with Michigan Republicans, such as when he and wife Jeri held court at the entrance of the Grand Hotel yesterday afternoon (above photo) or when he shook hands and took photos with attendees on the big porch before dinner. I think what hampered Thompson last night were the expectations that had built up in advance of his speech. I also had one observer tell me that he gave the wrong speech to the wrong audience; had he used that same laid-back approach before an audience in Tennessee, it might have turned out differently.

Mike Huckabee, Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo -- Worse than performing poorly was not showing up at all. Huckabee, Brownback and Tancredo can forget about competing in Michigan. While I know there were circumstances surrounding Huckabee's cancellation, this meeting was far too important for him to miss. He has thrown through the course of the debates that he's a strong public speaker. Considering that most of the speeches (with the exception of Giuliani and McCain) were not very good, Huckabee almost certainly would have stood out from the crowd. The other two candidates, Brownback and Tancredo, have no real chance, so maybe they thought the expense wasn't worth the return on their investment. That's probably not how Michigan Republicans will look at it.

Chuck Yob -- On my way to Mackinac Island, I suggested the weekend might be filled with fireworks between Anuzis, the state party chairman, and Yob, the retiring national committeeman. After all, Yob has been a divisive force in the state, first trying to undermine Anuzis days before last Election Day and since he announced he'd be stepping down as committeeman. Yob was noticeably absent from the program's official activities. The Rev. Keith Butler, who will replace him, gave a rousing address on Friday, and Yob's longtime partner, Holly Hughes, was seen and heard from often. In contrast, Yob, despite his role as a longtime Michigan Republican operative, was relegated to introducing McCain last night and making a few other brief remarks. Even the McCain introduction took a strange twist when Yob opted to play a campaign commercial for McCain, something no other candidate had done. The overall mood toward Yob could be summed up this way: good riddance he'll soon be gone.