THE 10-MONTH HANGOVER

The Oakland County Republican Party Executive Committee voted on August 20 to censure the three state senators – Sens. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan), Lana Theis (R-Brighton) and John Bizon (R-Battle Creek) – who issued a report months ago that cast serious doubt on whether there were significant problems with the November 2020 presidential election, while at the same time calling on the Michigan Attorney General to investigate those who made false claims to the contrary, often for their own personal benefit or to raise political money. The report’s bottom line was that claims about a rigged election were “demonstrably false and based on misleading information.” The vote for censure was 40-7, with Oakland GOP Executive Committee member Max Rohtbart and six others voting against the motion. A few of those in attendance at the meeting claimed that at least one Republican had trouble voting remotely against the motion, so no telling if there were others unable to cast a ballot. Interestingly, and another sure sign that the state Republican party machinery continues to lean toward a pro-Tump position, Marian Sheridan, the Grassroots vice chair of the state party, was at the meeting and voted in favor of the censure. Noted one GOP member at the executive committee meet, there is a “faction of normal people still left” in the Oakland Republican party but they are often drowned out by a “very vocal” fringe element that follows in the footsteps of Milford state Rep. Matt (Mad Dog) Maddock and his spouse, state party co-chair Meshawn Maddock. This observer bemoaned that while it may grab headlines and embolden the ultra-conservative base foot soldiers, “politics is about winning elections,” a concern among Republican leaders as they head into the 2022 midterms with an increasingly divided party membership. The Oakland GOP committee vote followed a vote with a similar outcome in neighboring Macomb County a week earlier.