SHOO-SHOO-SCHUETTE

As Lt. Gov. Brian Calley continues to drag out the possibility of when he’ll announce his run for governor, Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette appears to have the wind at his back after finally announcing his run. At the 32d Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference in late September, word is Schuette was “all over the island,” including shaking hands with everyone who came off Shepler’s ferry on Friday afternoon before his event. “There are no votes on the island, and no one is going to give you money,” said one Republican. “The lobbyists aren’t going to endorse you or raise money for the primary, and other than politicians, that’s who’s there.” But a “Friend of Bill’s” said Schuette, who has been endorsed by former Gov. John Engler and former U.S. Representative (now Macomb County Public Works Commissioner) Candice Miller, has done internal polling and is currently polling 52 percent to Calley’s 13 percent among Republicans who vote in a primary. Schuette, who was an early Trump supporter, gets even higher numbers among those who hear he is a Trump backer – 62 percent to 13 percent. “Calley seems to have faded away. I don’t see it for him – he has no momentum,” one lawmaker said. Another said Gov. Rick Snyder is committed to helping Calley, who is not yet ready to throw in the towel, even though his May 30 “presumed announcement” was a showcase for his push for a part-time legislature which “ostracized him from the legislature. It got him attention – but not the right kind.” Ouch.