Presidential primaries spawn the next crop of impersonators

Not only have voters been watching the results of the country’s presidential primaries with anticipation to see who the major political parties’ nominees will be, but so have the country’s entertainers and impersonators.

A convincing impression of a presidential candidate or president can be a huge boost to a career, and we only need to look at NBC’s "Saturday Night Live" for evidence of that. The long-running late-night comedy show has even been a factor in the recent Democratic debates when Sen. Hillary Clinton brought up a recent SNL skit where the cast parodied the alleged kid glove treatment her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, has received from the press. Clinton even appeared on the show last week next to cast member Amy Poehler, who does a pretty good imitation of the New York senator.

Original SNL cast member Chevy Chase’s send up of former President Gerald Ford launched his career, and other SNL alumni who have scored big with presidential impressions include Dan Aykroyd’s Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter; Joe Piscopo’s Ronald Reagan; Dana Carvey’s George H.W. Bush; Phil Hartman’s Bill Clinton; and Darrell Hammond’s Clinton and George W. Bush.

Taking a recent listen to some radio and comedy shows, it appears some impressionists have gotten Republican nominee Sen. John McCain down with his signature catch phrase, “my friends.” In addition to Poehler, many entertainment bureaus already have Hillary Clinton impersonators in their stable because they often get requests for both Bill and Hillary Clinton. That has held true for well-known first ladies and their spouses, like Ron and Nancy Reagan and George and Laura Bush. However, no one has yet mastered the voice of Obama.

“I have a few George Bushes, I have a Bill Clinton and a Laura Bush,” said Kathy Krajewski, the owner and founder of Rochester, Mich.-based Double Exposure. “I go out all the time to look at national acts; we need more impersonators in Michigan.”

Double Exposure primarily handles weddings, but it provides planning for every kind of party imaginable. It, like most party and entertainment bureaus, has stables of look-alikes and celebrity impersonators it can call on when a request comes in. Depending on the medium the impression is intended for, a good presidential impression may consist of a physical resemblance or having the speech patterns and gestures down.

“Every four years around election time you get more interest than you normally do,” said Bernie Stevens, owner of the entertainment bureau and party planning company Bernie Stevens and Associates, based in Holly, Mich. “Normally, you don’t get a lot of calls for political figures.”

If you bear a striking resemblance and have the speech patterns down of former Democratic Sen. John Edwards, for example, seeing him drop out of the race was not a happy event. The same thing would be true if you had former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee or Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson down cold.

George W. Bush is an impression many people have down, and those comedians who do him well hate to see him go. However, Stevens said there is usually a market for former presidents, depending on their popularity and if they are still alive. Doing an impression of a recently deceased president may not strike some people as funny.

Famous impersonator Rich Little’s career took a bit of a nosedive after Richard Nixon left the limelight and then passed away. However, Little is making a comeback, and on a recent successful appearance on the "Late Show with David Letterman" he told the audience: “The key to staying on top is keep your act fresh and keep coming up with new people all the time.”

Historical reenactors are also in demand, and presidents like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt are in demand. The good news is no one is going to hold them to having the voice right.
“Lincoln, Jefferson and (Mark) Twain; those are the big three,” Stevens said. “They are in such demand because most elementary school students recognize the face right away.”

McCain picks up endorsement of Michigan’s largest newspapers

Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., received a major boost in Michigan with the endorsement of Michigan's largest newspaper, the Detroit Free Press, on Sunday.

The Free Press endorsed McCain in 2000 when he won the Michigan Primary, and the paper did it again, saying McCain's steadiness and consistency make him the choice for Michigan Republicans.

“John McCain is, again, the best candidate to carry the GOP banner into the fall. While the Free Press differs with McCain on a number of issues, the Arizona senator is a smarter, more tested and pragmatic leader who has shown since 2000 that he knows how to build bipartisan alliances around issues.”

Last week McCain picked up the endorsement of Michigan's second largest newspaper, the Detroit News. The Free Press has a circulation of more than 353,000 readers on weekdays – according to the Michigan Press Association - and a circulation of more than 712,000 on Sunday. The Detroit News has a weekday circulation of more than 226,000.

The Detroit Free Press is owned by Gannett, and it remains to be seen if the entire chain in Michigan will endorse McCain. Gannett products in Michigan include the Battle Creek Enquirer, the Lansing State Journal, the Livingston County Daily Press and Argus and the Port Huron Times Herald.

McCain campaigning hard for Michigan Presidential Primary

Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will maintain a solid presence in Michigan leading up to the Jan. 15 Michigan Presidential Primary.

Cindy Pine, the Hamburg Township Supervisor and the former chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, said McCain’s “Straight Talk Express” will land at 2 p.m. Jan. 13 at the Crystal Gardens Banquet Center, 5768 E. Grand River Ave., in Livingston County’s Genoa Township for a town hall meeting that’s free and open to the public.

McCain is coming off of a respectable fourth place finish in the Iowa caucuses with 13 percent of the vote, and many pundits are calling it a victory for McCain. McCain spent very little time or money in Iowa, instead focusing on the New Hampshire primary set for Tuesday. The surprise win by Mike Huckabee over Mitt Romney- the son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney - in the Iowa caucuses may be a good thing for McCain, who decided several months ago to stake his entire campaign on New Hampshire, where he is ahead of Romney in the polls.

It was not too long ago that McCain was falling like a rock in the polls, and supporters were jumping off the Straight Talk Express like rats from a sinking ship. We have seen that scenarios play out right here in Michigan, which may make McCain’s Michigan visits interesting.

Here in Livingston County, Rep. Chris Ward, R-Brighton, was named as one of four state representatives from Michigan to serve as legislative co-chairs of the McCain campaign way back in September of 2006, and Ward was also named co-chair of the Straight Talk America Michigan Legislative Advisory Team. But Ward announced in June of last year he was backing off of his previous endorsement of McCain for the Republican Presidential nomination and switching his allegiance to former actor and lobbyist Fred Thompson; before Thompson was even running.

In September Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox announced he was resigning his post as Michigan chairman of McCain's presidential campaign.

McCain has had past success in Michigan, winning the 2000 Michigan Presidential Primary over then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush, despite an almost guarantee of a Bush victory and endorsement by former Michigan Gov. John Engler. McCain just recently picked up a Michigan victory of sorts, receiving the endorsement of one of Michigan’s largest daily newspapers, the Detroit News.

But there is also some opposition to McCain in Michigan. The Michigan State University chapter of Young Americans for Freedom is planning to demonstrate against McCain's immigration policies when he appears for a town hall meeting at 4 p.m. Jan. 13 at the MSU Kellogg Center, 55 South Harrison Rd. in East Lansing. The MSU YAF has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Other Michigan appearances by McCain include: a Grand Rapids rally and town hall meeting at 10:15 Jan. 9 a.m. at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport Northern Jet Management, 5500 44th Street SE.

A Macomb town hall meeting 10:45 a.m. Jan. 12 at the Andiamo Celebrity Showroom, 7096 Fourteen Mile Rd. in Wayne.

An Oakland town hall meeting 3:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Clawson High School Trojan Hall, 101 John M Ave.

A Battle Creek town hall meeting 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at the Burnham-Brook Center, 200 West Michigan Ave.

A Kalamazoo town hall meeting, 9:45 a.m. Jan. 14 at Kalamazoo Christian High School, 2121 Stadium Dr.

A Holland town hall meeting 12:15 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Hope College DeWitt Theater, 141 Columbia Ave.

A Spring Lake get out the vote rally and town hall meeting, 4 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Nichols Company, 1391 Judson Rd. in Spring Lake.

A Kent County get out the vote rally, 5:30 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Kent County Republican headquarters, 264 Leonard St. NW in Grand Rapids.

A Traverse City get out the vote rally 8n a.m. Jan. 15 at Northwestern Michigan College Hagerty Place, 715 East Front St.

Club for Growth goes after McCain for Michigan remarks

If we needed any proof here in Michigan that Sen. John McCain’s campaign for the Republican nomination for President has picked up some steam and is alive and well we only needed to see the press release put out by the conservative Club for Growth.

The release came in response to a Dec. 21 Detroit Free Press article where McCain told the Free Press editorial board he would “use federal money to make up the salary differences for workers who lose manufacturing jobs and take lower-paying positions while they train for new careers.”

The country has lost 3 million manufacturing jobs under the current administration to outsourcing and other causes, and the U.S. auto industry has been hit vary hard. The Club for Growth release came out as soon as the Free Press article was published, and it calls McCain’s plan “welfare” and pandering to Michigan voters as the Jan. 15 Michigan primary election fast approaches.

“This is exactly the kind of plan you expect to hear from the Democratic candidates, not an alleged economic conservative,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey in the press release. “The government should not be in the business of guaranteeing wages.”

Club for Growth is non-profit political organization with some 40,000 members with a political action committee (PAC) that raises money for conservative candidates who support a “low-tax and limited-government agenda.” The group has a history of backing conservative Republicans even against incumbent moderate Republicans.

Michigan residents are familiar with one of the most well known instances of Club for Growth’s handy work. They pumped thousands of dollars into the campaign of ultra-conservative Tim Walberg in his primary battle in the summer of 2006 against incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz, and the moderate Republican lost his bid for reelection to Walberg in the 7th Congressional District despite Schwarz having the support and endorsement of the state Republican Party Chair and President George Bush

Ironically, Schwarz is now a member of McCain’s Michigan Finance Team that raises money in the sate for McCain.

MDP release guidelines for Presidential Primary

With the Michigan 2008 Presidential Primary just five weeks away, the Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) released its voter guide to the Jan. 15, 2008 primary today.

Most of the guidelines apply to both political parties, and both state parties have been penalized by their respective national parties for holding an early primary. The Democratic National Committee voted to strip Michigan Democrats of all its 156 delegates to the national convention for violating party rules by choosing an early primary, and the national GOP said Michigan Republicans would lose half of their delegates at the convention for doing the same thing. The state GOP has not yet issued guidelines for the primary.

Perhaps the most important guideline is the deadline for registering to vote in the primary, and that is fast approaching. The deadline to register to vote is 30 days before the election, and that makes the date the close of business on Dec. 17, just a week away. Absentee voting is already taking place. Registered voters can vote by absentee ballot if they meet one of two requirements – they will be out of town for the election or they are age 60 or older or have a disability that will not allow them to go to the polls. If you meet one of those conditions and have not received an absentee ballot contact your local clerk.

Voters will cast their ballot at their regular polling places between the hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 15. In order to vote at a polling place under new rules just put into place for last month’s general election, a voter must show a photo ID or sign a statement saying that they do not have a photo ID with them to vote. Absentee voters do not have to produce a photo ID. Voters will be asked whether they want a Democratic or Republican ballot, and a record will be made of which ballot they take. The voter’s choice of candidate will be secret as in all public elections.

All the names of the Republican candidates will be on the ballot, but that’s not the case for Democrats because some Democratic candidates requested their names be taken off the ballot to protest Michigan’s violation of the early primary rules. The Democratic ballot will have six choices: Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, Uncommitted and Write in. A vote for “uncommitted” is a vote to send delegates to the Democratic National Convention who are not committed or pledged to any candidate. Those delegates can vote for any candidate they choose at the Convention. The MDP is suggesting that supporters of Joe Biden, John Edwards, Barack Obama or Bill Richardson should vote “uncommitted” instead of writing in their candidates’ names because write-in votes for those candidates will not be counted.

Dingell-Anuzis push presidential primary plan

If the back-and-forth debate and on-again-off-again Presidential Primary election wasn’t strange enough, it got a little bit more unusual with the announcement Tuesday that Michigan Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzis and Michigan Democratic National Committeewoman Debbie Dingell have collaborated on a bi-partisan presidential primary selection plan they say will put the debate to an end.

Last week the Democratic National Committee voted to strip Michigan Democrats of all its 156 delegates to the national convention for violating party rules by choosing an early primary, and the national GOP said Michigan Republicans would lose half of their delegates at the convention for doing the same thing. The Legislature went back and forth on whether to hold a caucus or an open primary after getting the news of the sanctions.

What is being dubbed the Dingell-Anuzis presidential primary selection plan is patterned after the Levin-Nelson Presidential Reform Bill in Congress. The plan would divide up states into six regions. There would be six sub-regions set up in each region, designating a representative cross section of America. The national parties would then set six distinct dates for when contests would be held. A lottery would determine the dates each designated sub-region could hold a presidential primary or caucus and no one region could be selected to go first for two consecutive presidential cycles, eliminating incentives for states to break the rules.

The original decision to hold the primary on Jan. 15 was to make Michigan more relevant in the presidential selection process instead of always allowing Iowa and New Hampshire – states not representative of the ethnic and racial make up of the rest of the country - to go first. Those two primaries go a long way toward choosing the eventual winner and eliminating under-performing candidates from the race.

“We need to end the monopoly of some states that always enjoy earlier contests while protecting every state’s right to be relevant in the process,” Dingell said in the press release put out the Michigan GOP announcing the plan.

The plan will be sent to both Republican and Democratic national committees for review and consideration for the 2012 cycle.