NO BIG TENT

Daniel Hartman

It’s hard to believe that Michigan’s GOP could continue to shoot themselves in the foot, but the gun seems to be perennially loaded these days. The latest blunder was courtesy of the party’s new lawyer, Daniel Hartman, who during a recent online interview boldly stated that, “it was ‘crazy’ Christians allowed non-Christian voices into the marketplace of ideas.” Hartman, a personal injury attorney out of Petoskey, made the audacious remark while being interviewed on “The Inside Track” with Mark Forton, chairman of Macomb County Republican Party, and Lisa Mankiewicz, Forton’s vice chairwoman. Mankiewicz did counter by saying the Michigan Republican Party had room for people who “love the Lord,” and the party was more diverse than it was being portrayed. But Hartman responded, “It’s crazy, as Christians, that we’ve allowed any other voice but a Christian voice into the marketplace of ideas.” One Republican poobah noted that, in a state with many non-Christians, including Jews and Muslims, “guys like Hartman are why we are going to continue to lose elections.”