By Brandon Hall
(Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com)
Former ambassador and ex MRP Chair Ron Weiser announced last weekend he is again running for U of M regent.
It looked like Weiser had won the slot in 2015 along with Dr. Rob Steele, but late returns from Detroit and other urban areas tipped the scales for the Dems.
Weiser will likely benefit in a big way from the recent straight ticket voting ban that will take effect: if straight ticket votes were eliminated, Weiser would have won in 2014...
Weiser, a longtime donor and volunteer for the university, clearly bleeds maize and blue and is well positioned for victory at the convention this summer, and in November...
"I am writing you today to announce that I am running for University of Michigan Regent and to humbly ask for your endorsement.
The University has been near and dear to my heart for many years. I became a Wolverine long before I graduated in 1966.
Many of you across the state worked very hard with me to elect conservative Republicans in 2010 when I had the privilege of serving as Chairman of the Michigan Republican State Committee. We had a tremendously successful victory through a team effort of grassroots conservatives working the phones, knocking on doors, distributing signs, and pounding the pavement, while we raised over $30 million for the Party to fund the air war and the Victory Centers. We learned the perfect formula for success: a grassroots conservative base inspired by ideas, working hard to win, with the money needed to blanket the television airwaves with our message.
I was elected to be RNC Finance Chairman in 2011, and led the national effort that raised record amounts of money despite the difficulties that the Party faced. I had planned to run for U of M Regent in 2012 but the unions put Proposal 2 on the ballot, and I had a duty to do everything that I could to fight this job-killing measure. We utilized the same successful strategy we found in 2010: a strong ground game and a strong air war. Once again, it worked perfectly. We beat the unions badly on Proposal 2 and we were able to pass Freedom to Work legislation a month later!
During my time as an Ambassador in Eastern Europe right after 9/11, I saw first hand the effects of socialism and communism. I know the truth of Ronald Reagan's warning: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We don't pass it to our children in their bloodstreams. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." His words guided my vision in starting and endowing the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies at the University of Michigan, which is making a difference in lives both at the University and abroad.
Working for freedom for our children and our children's children is what motivated all of us to stop Proposal 2 and pass Freedom to Work, and it is what motivates me now to run for University of Michigan Regent - and why I would be honored to have your endorsement and support.
We worked together in the trenches to win one of the most consequential fights of our generation. I am asking for your help again. I want to serve as a University of Michigan Regent, because the work is not done. We can prevent our Universities from finding ways around Right to Work. Every student should take a class on the Constitution. We must keep in-state tuition rates low; my 34 years of experience in starting and growing a business and meeting a payroll can help us accomplish that goal. I oppose any effort to give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants and will work to change that policy. I will work tirelessly to pass on the value of Freedom to the next generation of Michigan leaders.
We can bring these conservative values to the University of Michigan and once again, win together. Please join me today in that effort. "
Brandon Hall is a lifelong political nerd from Grand Haven, and is the Managing Editor of West Michigan Politics.
>>>Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com
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| Photo By Darlene Dowling Thompson |
Weiser is the epitome with everything that is wrong with Michigan politics. Unfortunately, too many of the low lives and political whores in the Michigan GOP--both tea party activists and establishment wannabes--will take Weiser's money.
ReplyDeleteThat seems a bit harsh when he was the guy who helped pass right to work, fought to include more precinct delegates and has supported a lot of great conservative candidates.
ReplyDelete