SHUNNING THE ISLAND

We polled a number of GOP stalwarts – you know, those who built the party powerhouse through donations and hard work prior to the MAGA takeover in the last couple of years – and found a surprising number of them skipped the late May gathering at the Mackinac Policy Conference, considered the revered annual event for thought leaders in both parties. Said one of those who skipped the island get-together, with the divisive nature of the party – including among the warring MAGA factions – the traditional conservative Republicans are now generally ignored at party confabs so a number of them skipped the event, withholding their participation much like they are doing with their donations to the party in this election cycle.