Friends,
In almost 11 years of writing “Reading for Leading,” I think I’ve only once written about my wife. Much as I love and admire Jennifer, I’ve tried to keep her out of this, and I’ve appreciated that about 99.5% of my readers have as well. So, as she enters the last 10 days of being Michigan’s governor, I break my own rule. I do so for two reasons. First, I exercise this personal privilege to publicly share my admiration (and to share this video for those curious about her leadership legacy). But the other is frankly more important and that is to use her as an example as you and I try to lead with our best selves.
It would take chapters to discuss all of her strengths, and I’d guess I could spend a few pages on her shortcomings, but here are three dimensions of her leadership practice that inspire me.
1. Accept. Adjust. Advance*. When you lead well, you don’t do the opposite: Blame. Deny. Wait. Whether they were her own rare but inevitable mis-steps, flubs by her team, or simply facing the mind-numbing challenges Michigan faced as a million manufacturing jobs evaporated, Jennifer got up every morning and focused not on who screwed up, self pity, or wishing and hoping, but on what was in her power (and much of which appeared to be beyond her grasp). I tell myself all the time to “be like Jen,” when my natural inclinations are to obsess over my stupid mistakes or to get mad (or want to get even 😎 ). Let go. Move on!
2. Build people up. Jennifer does both parts of this activity. She does the personal-emotional side by seeing people, encouraging them, and thanking them. Frankly, this takes some work, for her basic make-up is to be a restless, driving leader (an ENTJ “field general” in the Myers-Brigg/Keirsey schemes). I have complemented her – sometimes by not complimenting her – but encouraging her to keep doing the personal part, and she does it with warmth and genuineness. She also does the second up-building part by delegating tasks and sharing power well. Her cabinet and team have been freed and encouraged to “enlarge their territory,” which, more than her own leadership, has caused the Pew Foundation Center on the States to score Michigan among the top-3 states for the way it’s been managed.
3. Disciplined focus. Peter Drucker long ago said of executives, what is true of all of us: our time is precious, and the best of us focus our time on what’s most important. For Jennifer, this may have been her main area of growth as a leader. In the early years she wanted to do everything: cities, arts, higher ed, early childhood ed, a massive poverty reduction program, etc., and because she delegated so well her team got much of that done. But she became laser-focused on the core vision: diversification and education for 21st century jobs. If Michigan becomes extraordinarily competitive in the decade ahead, I expect it will, it will have been laser-focus that made it happen. She also had a laser-like discipline when it came to ethics and modeling the way. This weekend Delta handed me boarding passes that upgraded us to first class. As she did every time that I was aware, she said no, and “made me” turn them back in…for Row 27. I had rationalizations: it’s 4:00 AM, obviously they have unpaid seats available, we can get on quietly and not be seen. But she was right – modeling the way, staying squeaky clean, and offering me an example of great discipline, a seldom appreciated aspect of leading with your best self!
Love to have you share your observations on Jennifer’s leadership and on your own heroes and heroines!
Have a wonderful holiday, and enjoy a little break from RFL!
Dan
* I offer props to Joe Caruso, a Michigan writer and leadership expert who was the first I heard to describe the three A’s of accept, adjust and advance. I have included in my own thinking and practice the concepts of Acknowledge and Apologize, which often belong to the Adjust part of the sequence.
I’ve always been extremely impressed with the governor. Those who blame her for Michigan’s troubles just don’t understand what she faced and the parameters she had to work within. All the best to her and your family.
Congratulations to Jennifer and the State of Michigan for the balanced budgets, diversification in our state and the honor of having her as our Govenor! Sad that it has to end with her as our leader, we can only hope that the ground work she has laid continues not matter who is in office as our Govenor (democrat or republican).
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you
Jennifer Granholm
I am grateful for Governor Granholm’s outstanding dedication service to the people of Michigan. She is a leader with great vision and high standards that are all too uncommon. I greatly respect how she faced the unprecedented bankruptcies of Chrysler and GM. She introduced new ideas, built new relationships and strengthened existing ones with a huge amount of positive energy and steely determination to create a better tomorrow. I wish her all the best for the future and sincerely hope she will continue on with her admirable and effective public service. Many, many thanks!
This entry was fabulous and inspiring. The recoginition of Gov. Granholm’s leadership has many noteworthy lessons that I take away from your article and the video that your shared: remain true to your values, focus on the positive, and surround yourself with a team that both supports and enlarges your vision and impact. That team is important in both the professional and personal realms and your support of you wife is a model that we can all aspire to! Happy Holidays!
The first time I remember seeing and meeting your wife was at NCG, where she stood at the counter waiting to buy a movie ticket. Thinking I was seeing things (and saying to myself, “That CAN’T be the Governor, standing there – by herself – buying a movie ticket!”), I almost left without a greeting. But knowing how much my father loved her (staunch Republican that he was…) and knowing I’d never hear the end of it from Liz if I didn’t stop, I walked up to our Governer and introduced myself. The acknowledgment I received was as if I was a long-lost relative: a warm smile, a big hug and an, “I LOVE your father!” We discussed our respective movies, another hug (from the GOVERNOR!) and I went on my way.
The genuine warmth was repeated when I ran into the Gov. (in cognito in shorts and tee shirt, with ballcap and sunglasses in tow…) at Sparrow Hospital 2 days before my father passed away. And AGAIN when she chose to attend my dad’s funeral after a brief meeting with the President of the United States that morning. That she would take time out of her busy schedule and side-step the President spoke volumes to me and my family. While we may not always have agreed politically, I have admired the style and grace – and tenacity – with which she has governed our state. And I admire the love and care she (and you!) extended to my family.
I look forward to hearing about your next journey… God bless, and Merry Christmas!
Dan, I share in your strong voice of support for Jennifer. She has lead with integrity and compassion Her untiring work for the citizens of Michigan will be felt for years to come. We are a better state as a result of her leadership. Now, on a personal note, I remember once hearing her sing in her Detroit office. It was on the day that she vetoed a Bill to takeover the water department from the citizens of Detroit. That was the first and only time I heard her say, I am going home early and enjoying some time with Katie. She had worked so hard behind the sense to protect a Detroit asset that she decided to take a half day off! What a leader. For every glass of water that I drink or every shower or bath that I take, I thank my governor for protecting a resource that should remain a Detroit asset! Thank you for sharing your wonderful wife and life partner with us for 8 years.
Dan:
Being Governor of Michigan for the last eight years would not have been easy for anyone however since you bring up your wife I guess I will be one of the .05% that is critical of her. Your first point is completely false. Governor Granholm spent eight years telling the citizens of this great state that it was either Englers fault of President Bush’s fault for all the manufafacturing moving overseas and out of Michigan when in fact that is not the case. I have said it before but I guess it still needs repeating in the face of propaganda: 20 or so plants from foreign automakers were built in the Southeast during her time resulting in a permanent 2nd automotive capital in the U.S.. This was a completely wasted opportunity. Her ties to the UAW painted her in the corner and made her choose between her career and the futre of manufacturing in Michigan. She chose the former. It is my hope that Governer elect Snyder will be able to break the strangle hold the UAW has on this state to allow manufaturing back into this state.
I can only dream of the position Michigan would be in if she had the will to stand up to the UAW and put her re-election chances on the line for the welfar of Michiganders. She had the chance and it is my fear that the southeast is now too established to put the jeanie back in the bottle.
I do wish her well in her future endeavors but I do not think it is instructive to gloss over this glaring mistake. If we do then we will not be able to face up to the UAW.
Terry,
I think your facts are dead wrong.
1. I dare you to find me a single public source where my wife complained about Engler. That is pure myth. Did she inherit a structural deficit? That’s a fact. But she wasn’t blaming him at any time. I honestly don’t know where you get this. Did political allies? Sure, but never her and never her team, spokespeople, etc. As to Bush, she repeatedly blamed his poor trade policy for many of our troubles. She has credited him as well when he helped, e.g., when he brought the first round of help to the autos.
2. I would like to see the citations on auto plants opening during Jennifer’s time. Where did you get the 20, and when were those in process. Jennifer vied for 2 – Toyota (she won the tech center but lost ONE plant) and VW during this time. As you well know, autos/manufacturing have been in a decades-long dive. On the other hand, she did help Ford move a plant back from Mexico, talked Sergio Marchionne (by his words not mine) into doing a 180 turn and keeping Sterling Heights open, and has lobbied heavily and successfully to bring GM’s Volt battery work here.
3. On the UAW: I’d invite you to talk to workers, who have given enormous concessions to keep the plants open. Have you been reading Bob King lately?
4. Most important – which doesn’t fit into a traditional Right/Left (boring) critique, Terry: we’re in a new time. Big Government, Big Labor, Big Autos, Big Anybody can’t save us. We have to compete in a fierce global economy, and Jennifer tried to wake us all up to that. She fought to make us competitive in every way: attracting new sectors, encouraging labor to do its share, and shrinking government. There is one state that shrunk their general fund spending in the last 10 years. Not those beloved southeastern states. Not New Jersey. Michigan. And by a double digit decrease. Every public sector union was part of that contraction. We ALL have a lot of work to do, and I’m glad Jennifer did her part well.
Dan
Dan,
First let me say, you and your wife compliment each other, in my eyes you both have added much to the people of the State of Michigan. You, in your own quiet way, have contributed much to my and other reader’s thinking and leadership abilities. You also spoke at a Human Relations Commission program for us in Jackson a few years ago. That was a very important moment for that organization.
I have never regretted a day that Gov. Granholm was in office because I knew that she had the best interest of the people of the State of Michigan always in the forefront of her thoughts and actions. She graciously endured criticism and extreme partisanship during the early years, never openly complaining about the mess left behind by the Engler administration.
What I liked about her most is that she genuinely cares about people and I felt that way every time I met her or shook her hand. I truly felt I was important to her. I am a state employee and was most impressed by The Visions and Values principles she introduced to State workers. As a supervisor and leader, I try to adhere to the core values of integrity, excellence, inclusion and teamwork in all my interactions both professionally and personally.
I really appreciate both you and Gov. Granholm for making Michigan first in yours and your family’s lives. May God Bless You All.
Dear Dan –
While it is unfortunate that the Michigan economy has taken one tumble after another during her terms in office, I have always admired her dedication to the people of this state and her committment to do the right thing. From an outsider perspective, it has been refreshing to see someone in government act with integrity – never seeming to pursue a path that would be in her own personal best interest. One only has so much control over outcomes, but hopefully many of the efforts she has made to improve our foundation will bear fruit – even if other administrations get to take credit for it.
I know there have been a lot of folks (even more conservative folks like me) rooting for her as she seems to really represent integrity in government that seems all too rare these days.
All the best to you and your family.
Yes, and I think you would appreciate Margaret Wheatley’s article in the current Resurgence magazine, titled “Leadership in the Age of Complexity: From Hero to Host”. In fact, the winter issue is devoted to leadership.
Steve
How blest to be married to some one you love and admire.
Thanks to your wife, Dan, for all that she has done to keep Michigan afloat during these difficult economic times. It is unfortunate that the public expects that their political leaders can take care of their needs by herorically fixing what has gone wrong.
Ralph Kilmann, author of Quantum Organizations, states “Leadership, just to put it in context, is one of the most discussed topics in the last 100 years. There originally was a belief that if we had a great leader, all our problems would be solved. We still have that hero myth about leaders: if you find the right leader with the right traits, the right abilities, the right disposition, this will save us. I think there still is that fantasy.”
“Based on my understanding of the new paradigm, what if we embrace what we know of reality through quantum physics, cosmology, neuroscience and the evolution of consciousness, and we take that all very seriously. What does that say about the notion of leadership?”
“First, everyone can be a leader. There can be shared leadership and servant leadership throughout the organization. I am not perpetuating the myth that this is one person on top who gives orders and the rest are supposed to follow like a well-oiled machine. That’s the Newtonian model. Leadership is more about adult responsibility in today’s world and today’s quantum paradigm.”
John,
Thanks for the great quote from Ralph Kilmann. I couldn’t agree with him more. It’s why I like to talk about “everyday leadership.” It’s more fun, more fluid, and in the end much more effective.
Thanks for all your contributions – you’ve been a living example of shared thought leadership!
Dan
Dan:
Here is a report from the Department of Commerce. It is from 2007. The real horrible part of the establishment of a SE auto sector is the huge growth from the supplier support side. Please note the “Shift away from strong union states”
http://trade.gov/static/auto_reports_foreignautoinvestment.pdf
Terry,
Thanks for the link. I didn’t see the “20 plants” you were talking about, and I’m not going to quibble about details. Most of the jobs in the report you cite were on the boards long before Jennifer was on the scene to fight for them, and many more were “planned” in that 2007 report, but haven’t happened. But quibbling about that misses the bigger points:
1. You’d have to be a fool – and I’d like to think I’m not 🙂 – to think that foreign investment in the south was not related to their fears of our strong unions. It was clearly a factor. There were many other factors in play, e.g., lower energy costs, America’s southward shifting population (and Detroit’s distance from the south and southwest), and major southern state tax incentives (from the same ((largely Republican)) political leaders who fought against helping GM and Chrysler get back on their feet. We had no RIGHT to get those factories. Jennifer fought for the few new plants that came – VW and Toyota, mainly – but often our bids were trumped by other states. I remember situation where Ohio was putting CASH in the deal. Texas has a “closing fund” that is supported by their oil and gas revenues to close deals. So to lay the blame primarily on labor and hold my wife responsible – is tidy and is certainly the Detroit News and Country Club “obvious truth” but it seems intellectually disingenuous to me.
2. As I have repeatedly said: there’s plenty of work for everyone to make Michigan competitive today. The UAW saved GM, Ford and Chrysler, and of course, their own workers’ jobs. Do they think the job is over? No. But they now own their legacy issues. They now have a two-tiered system where new workers come in at drastically lower wages. Will they have to do more? Yes. So, will governments, companies, universities, etc., if we are to get more competitive.
3. The biggest story of all is that auto manufacturing jobs are DOWN – even with the foreign manufacturers added in. And they are increasingly NOT going to the south but to places where the wage differentials are HUGE. That, Terry, is the major issue and one which Jennifer has tried over and over to get us to focus upon. The location of technical centers by Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, and over 300 other technical centers here gives us a chance. But they’re not my grandpa’s Ford factory jobs or the ones that kept your ancestors happy making parts. On balance, surprise, I think Jennifer did an awful lot to help us face the future that’s been upon us.
D.
Dan, I appreciate the lessons from watching Jennifer lead and govern; today’s RFL is a good example. Equally valuable is your own way of learning, extracting and conveying to your readers, liseners and audiences what we can learn and apply from formal and informal leaders – this is one of your leadership gifts.
Thanks for linking to the video too.
Heck, thanks, Cathy. I’m blessed with a great wife to watch and a slew of fellow leader-learners. A great blessing!
Dan,
I greatly appreciate your diversion from the norm to pay tribute to your mate who just happens to be our Governor.
We should all be reminded that what has happened to Michigan’s economy is not exclusive to the rest of our country. Our focus should be on who was at the helm when the ship was in peril and that the Association of Governors named Jennifer Granholm as the most fiscally responsible (in that she did the best with what she had to work with) of all governors in the US.
I have had faith in Jennifer Granholm since my first encounter with her as Michigan’s Attorney General. She has continuously expanded my belief in her and has motivated many of the people I associate with to use another Kennedy (JFK) quote as a model on how we should conduct ourselves, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
Having had the privilege of interviewing her (and once with you) on my radio show during her many visits to the U.P., I have taken your messages and applied them. I applaud you both for your tenacity in working for the good of the people of Michigan, especially our young. The future of Michigan is with the minds of our youth and it is our responsibility to make them understand and appreciate who we are and why we love being here. As you once said, “All it takes is for us to be ourselves and it will work.” Once that passion is solidified, it will be their ingenuity that will make it great.
Please extend my gratitude for what Jennifer has done for us. She exemplifies the words of Theodore Roosevelt in his quote “A Man (or in this case a Woman) In The Trenches”.
My heart felt best wishes to your family from a faithful Yooper.
When I was a young boy of 12 I had the rare privilege to briefly meet President Kennedy when he came to Detroit in 1962 and throughout my life I paid close attention to the words he left us to remember. When I think of Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Kennedy’s definition of leadership fits her like a glove. JFK said, “Leadership and not salesmanship is what we need today, and the only way is to lead with vigor!”
So to make a very long story really short – in late 2007 I wrote a letter to Gov. Jennifer Granholm and told her about the small manufacturing company I worked for and that I wanted her help getting work from the U.S. Department of Defense.
A short while later, I was contacted by representatives from her office, after a site inspection and gaining the necessary security clearances, plus a lot of hard work, the company was on its way.
Now our company is working on our second 5-year defense contract. Both projects have supplied tools that support the mobility of ground vehicles for our US Army troops.
Along the way we diversified in new and challenging markets, and are becoming stronger. In 2008 our company was named Jackson County Government Contractor of the Year and actually recognized by the US Congress.
The fact remains that without the leadership of Governor Jennifer Granholm our small manufacturing company would have most likely perished, but instead 13 families will have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year for years to come!
Governor Jennifer Granholm will be remembered for her leadership and vigor.
Dan: You [and your children] have been blessed to have some amazing women in your lives. I happen to know a little about the great example that your mother set for you. You then met [and thankfully] were able to lure back to Michigan a great role model for all of the women [and men] in this state. How lucky we were to have someone of Jennifer’s caliber at the helm when Michigan faced some of the greatest challenges in our modern history. She not only assiduously avoided blaming John Engler for the hand she was dealt–a feat deserving of sainthood, in my opinion–but she demonstrated amazing grace, resilience, tenacity, and most of all, great leadership in the face of one nearly insurmountable obstacle after another. I know that I speak for many Michiganders when I say that we appreciate her [and your] unselfish public service and wish you and your entire family an enjoyable holiday.
I do not understand the statement that 20 foreign auto plants started in the southeast were a waste. Has anyone surveyed the companies that built those plants to find out what the factors involved in their location choices were?
The first time I saw Jennifer Granholm was at the Alpena County Courthouse on her 50 city campaign tour. She was focused, although visibly shaking, but when someone stopped her on the way out of the building to offer words of encouragement, she spoke with them and thanked them. I saw her on a number of cereminial occasions, but I one sticks out for its simplicity. She was making a campaign stop at the brewery in Alpena during the second governor’s race. She went from being surrounded by one crowrd of persons to another, and then was introduced. About five minutes into her speech, a small boy sitting on the floor, probably four or five years old, said loudly, “I am doing real good.” I was sitting in the front so I heard this, but most of the people in the room holding possibly 300 persons would not have. Jennifer turned to the little boy, 20 feet away, and said, “Yes, you are doing real good.” I know she is a mother, and I know she is a politican, but at the point, I thought there is a good person. She went on, and it is my regret I did not have the tape recorder.
Hi Dan,
I still remember when Gov. Granholm was running for office, against Dick Posthumus in 2002. Both candidates said repeatedly that trying to lead Michigan back from its downward slide would be difficult. Part of this was because the playing field against Michigan’s automakers and other major employers was becoming increasingly tilted. And in the two years immediately preceding her taking office, unemployment in the state had nearly doubled.
I don’t think anyone, Gov. Granholm included, could have appreciated then just how hard it would be for anyone to lead this state in such difficult economic times, which included the tail end of one recession in 2002, and the worst worldwide economic downturn since the Great Depression in 2008 … and the worldwide event hasn’t yet corrected itself.
Yet through it all, Gov. Granholm remained positive. She served as a spokesperson for all the good things that Michigan is, and can be even better at again. The state’s economic turnaround finally has begun, as the 2-point drop in unemployment in the last year shows — while the unemployment rate in some states keeps climbing.
Dan, I look forward to your continued posts in the years to come, and also look forward to the great things that you and the Governor will continue to do together.
Dan, Thank you for giving me the opportunity to unload. However, I coud take up more space than is available. I have lived under every Govoernor since Soapy Williams and no Governor in my lifetime has ever faced such an economic crisis and collapse as your ourtstanding wife.
I got so fed up with people telling me she hasn’t done anything or asking me what has she done that I began a notebook with divided sections that included all of the things she has done for the state in the area of jobs, education, issues dealing with Seniors, and legislation she signed and had friends initiate in the legislature. People only remember things for a week and don’t remember that when John Engler left office he left our current Governor with a 1 billion dollar deficit because he used money generated by surpluses to pay down deficits he was incurring while Governor. That was a fact published in GongWer. In addition, the state lost approximately 300,000 jobs during his last 2 1/2 years in office and when he left office the unemployment rate was 6 1/2% and climbing. Governor Granholm had that deck of cards and of Course you had a president who embroiled our nation in a War that cost this country untold sums of money that shoud have been sent back to the states to cover expenses such as medicaid. and that president never bothered to speak with our auto executives until his last two months in office.Jennifer was the first governor in my lifetime that initiated a plan that put in motion academic requirements designed to make our highschool gratduates marketable and competitive with high school students from around the globe. The fruits of the tax incentives to lure film production will demonstrate that this effort has and will help local communiteis and the hospitality industry.
Dan,
Thanks for the opportunity to thank Jennifer for her governing at a most difficult time for Michigan. I applaud her and will miss her leadership. I wish you both the very best. Merry Christmas and God bless you now and as you contemplate your future.
Gov. Granholm has done an outstanding job leading Michigan for the term of her office. She couldn’t have been elected to a more challenging time, save the Great Depression. As a Michigan native of 61 years, recent retiree, MSU honors grad, college administrator, leadership consultant, Girl’s State participant, award winning 4-H member and volunteer, Girl Scout Leader, community school volunteer, taxpayer /property owner, Roman Catholic, spouse of 40 years, parent, daughter, voter, cancer survivor, hospital chaplain, and thoughtful citizen of Michigan and the US., Gov. Granholm is also my hero(ine). I am proud to say I helped elect her and sad she only served 2 terms. Best wishes for her future leadership endeavors!
Terry, the simple fact is that our Federal Government during the glourious Bush years destroyed the economy and his administration did nothing to halt the exodous of jobs from tihis country. Fact: nearly 80-90% of the jobs leaving this state are not those held by unionized employees; jobs are being shipped to Mexiico, China, and India because corporate America owns Congress. You could fill up a storage bin with goods we sell in this country that are made outside of the USA. Those Goods represent jobs that coud be be given to Michigan residents and to Americans living in other states. I know you won’t like reading my comment but Engler and GW’s Economic belief that lower taxes would spur job growth was a fallacy. If that were the case then why did Michigan loose all those jobs in Johhny boy’s last two years in office? Anothr fact: He left office with unemployment at 6.5% and climbing and Jennnifer Granholm with a 1 billion dollar deficit something well recoginized by many pundits who sleep in the halls of the Michigan Legislature.
You cannnot distort reality. Jennifer Granholm had to perform andvanced life support on Michigan thanks to Pappa John. If the media in metro Detroit were honest reporters of truth much more could have been written about the catastrophe that was John Engler and George Bush. Of course the media doesn’t want to dwell on how Engler manipulated the system to make sure he got an obscene pension that probalbly pays him somewhere in the neighborhodd of $200,000 + or the utterly and useless waste of money spent on moving state of Michigan Employees from a building the state owned to one it has to pay about 1$million dollars a month to lease. I hardly call those decisions sound economic policy and an example of good leadership,
Dan, not only are his facts dead wrong but whatever relationship between the Governor and the UAW that was created had nothing to do with foreign companies opening up facilities in the South. Those companies did not want to come to Michigan becasue they could get a sweetheart deal in the South that made union organizingg efforts very difficlult. So ultimately, the American worker decided to reduce his/her standard of living since the workers in the south have chosen to work for companies that would like to manufacture cheap goods.
Dan,
What a beautiful tribute to your wife. She is one in a million. I remember standing on the capital lawn freezing and listening to her warmed up my heart. She has done a lot for Saginaw. It wasn’t her fault Michigan is in this mess. Best of Luck in the future. God Bless you and your family for sharing her with us.
Marti
A couple more things should be said. One person is primarily responsible for Kwame Kilpatrick resigning as mayor of Detroit. That person is Jennifer Granholm. She risked alienating a large portion of her base-but had the courage to do the right thing.
When Michigan was hit with an electrical grid blackout the gov responded so well that even the Detroit News praised her. She also earned high marks for her response to the Benton Harbor riots. Quite a contrast to the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.
When Gov. Granholm ran for reelection she was outspent two to one but won handily. The Dems regained the state house that year but just missed winning the state senate when two very close races went the wrong way. That allowed the GOP to employ a Jim DeMint Waterloo strategy to prevent the implementation of much of the governor’s agenda. Then they blamed her for not fixing all the problems!
Gov. Granholm is an excellent speaker and one of her fine speeches was delivered at the Rosa Parks memorial. Unlike Peggy Noonan, I don’t think she looked like a Wicca Priestess. The gov has stated that if there was one remark she could retract it would be the one about being blown away in fifve years. I will always remember the line from a speech she gave at a dinner in Washington: “Sarah Palin has given hot governors a bad name.”
Good luck Dan and Jennifer,
Dave Hochman
Dave an excellent review. Appparently, her critics cannot recall strengths and accomplishments which you highlighted. The Senate Republicans and the entirety of their party had no intention of cooperating with the Governor on anything that would have been tallies on her scoreboard. Brooks Patterson’s latest broadside against the Governor is a testiment of the origination of “Pin The Tale On The Donkey”. Obviously he couldn’t criticize the debacle of the Engler Years.