Macomb County may be ground zero in GOP un-civil war

 

The bitter Republican skirmish over health care funding has become so cut-throat that some combatants may soon need emergency medical care.
The intense intramural fight over Medicaid expansion, which will likely continue on Tuesday, has sparked a campaign to oust the eight GOP “traitors” in the Senate who gave this portion of Obamacare enough votes for passage.
This Senate Gang of Eight was referred to by angry tea party loyalists as, uh, rectums, pieces of excrement, and prime candidates to burn in hell.

All this over a new program that will be financed by the feds. That’s the kind of proposed legislation that normally passes both the House and Senate in a matter of minutes, without debate.

The tea party hit list, from left: Speaker Bolger, Gov. Snyder,
Lt. Gov. Calley and Majority Leader Richardville.

Beyond the nasty name-calling that quickly ensued following the 20-18 vote last Tuesday, tea party activists and strident conservatives also targeted for defeat Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, who faces GOP state convention approval in order to run for re-election in 2014.
As for the eight senators who will likely face Republican primary election challenges from the right, Macomb County may serve as ground zero in this un-civil war.
Anti-tax activist Leon Drolet sounds ready to take on Republican Sen. Tory Rocca of Sterling Heights, who is part of the Lansing Gang of Eight. Rocca’s surprising pro-Medicaid vote came on the heels of a vote against right-to-work legislation last December.

As only Drolet can do, the former state representative tried to fireproof himself while throwing gasoline on the blaze.
He told the Lansing-based Gongwer news service that, if he challenges Rocca, Macomb County Republicans will have a choice to make: “Would they rather be represented by a principled gay conservative or by a big government RINO who, frankly, screws them more than anybody else. If the focus of that primary becomes who’s screwing who, one thing has become exceptionally clear: Tory Rocca screws Republican primary voters.”

That flippant comment referred to the disparaging acronym, Republican In Name Only, and Drolet’s sexuality.
Though Drolet, of Macomb Township, is known in political circles as a gay man, voters have mostly received hints of that fact through ugly attacks he has endured in past campaigns. He said he decided to get the issue out in the open and upfront because he has been warned that surrogates working for the 2014 Rocca re-election campaign will play dirty.

Drolet, a former state representative, Macomb County commissioner and founder of the Michigan Taxpayer Alliance, has a far stronger resume than other potential tea party candidates mentioned so far across the state for Senate or lieutenant governor.
But he will face a senator with the power of incumbency and the formidable Rocca surname, which has reigned in Macomb County politics for 40 years. In addition, Rocca would likely secure considerable campaign funds from numerous special interest groups, including labor unions and the health care industry. Rocca is that rarest of GOP birds in 2013 – a pro-labor Republican.
The new boundaries for the 11th Senate District include all of Macomb Township and Sterling Heights, plus northern Clinton Township.

Drolet, who lost a hard-fought campaign in north Macomb for state Senate in 2010, would be pleased to compete in a primary race in which he is the small-government libertarian and Rocca is perceived as the RINO.
Meanwhile, those conservative stalwarts who want to turn the Michigan GOP further to the right – those who are outraged by the Medicaid expansion vote – are searching for more Drolets. “Are you ready to go RINO hunting?” asked former state legislator Jack Hoogendyk of western Michigan.
The ultraconservative Americans for Prosperity announced the other day that the vote on the Obamacare Medicaid plan and the subsequent vote on when the expansion will take effect will be key factors in determining who the AFP backs in next year’s elections.

And yet, many mainstream conservative Republicans are cringing at the thought of an August 2014 showdown that damages the party’s image and cohesion and leads to an implosion in November ’14.
Rich Studley, CEO of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, a behind-the-scenes face of conservative politics in the Capitol for three decades, sent a tweet on Friday: “There is a big difference between supporting limited government and being anti-government.”
A prominent Republican told me that a priority is to protect GOP Chairman Bobby Schostak’s re-election at the convention so that “the nuts (won’t) take control.”

All this mutiny within a party that is at the pinnacle of success, controlling every aspect of Michigan government.

On Tuesday, another battle awaits as the Senate will discuss a vote to give the expanded Medicaid system immediate effect. Last week’s vote on immediate effect, which requires a two-thirds majority but is typically a formality, fell two votes short.
If that decision stands, the state will lose $7 million a day in federal funding until the bill would take effect in late March.
So be it. That’s the response from 14 GOP senators who vow to stand firm and avoid any connection with Obamacare.
One of the leaders of the fight against more Medicaid, and now immediate effect, is Sen. Jack Brandenburg, a Harrison Township Republican.

Rocca

In the incestuous world of Macomb County politics, Brandenburg served with Drolet in the state House and then defeated him in that 2010 Senate race. Brandenburg also served with Rocca in the House, as did Drolet.
In addition, Rocca (who rarely speaks in public or to the press) is the son of Sal and Sue Rocca, who both served in the House and as Macomb County commissioners, trading seats back and forth. Sal served three separate stints in the House, starting in 1974.

Drolet

So, who supports who in a monumental match between Drolet and Tory Rocca for the GOP nomination? Does the tea party throw all its weight behind the challenger?
 
Well, Drolet has his own unique view on that question.
“Macomb County was the tea party before people knew what the tea party was,” he said. “Tea party values are in Macomb County genes.”
That’s quite a diagnosis. We will find out what independent, mainstream Macomb County voters think about Medicaid and other issues in 2014 – in the general election, not in the GOP primary. That August showdown might be dominated by panderers who lean so far to the right, they may fall down and hurt themselves.

The ultimate irony would be if a health care issue left the GOP chronically ill and in need of a political transfusion.