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Donald Trump and Bill Schuette
Michigan's Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette is known as calculated politician. His political chess moves are not made without forethought.
In 2016, while some state GOP politicians shied away from backing Donald Trump for president, Schuette calculated that it would be a good thing to endorse Trump. On Wednesday, Schuette spoke at the same gathering where GOP loyalists had come to hear ex-White House official Steve Bannon on the one year anniversary of the Trump election.
Schuette talked about his opposition to presidential candidate Jill Stein's recount effort and said:
“I made sure that we kept Macomb and Michigan in the victory column for Donald Trump.”
Schuette should realize that sucking up to Trump may be politically dangerous, even if Trump did win Michigan -- barley, by 10,704 votes.
In all likelihood, Trump hasn't lost the very core of his supporters, many of whom subscribe to his accusations of "fake news." But the reality is, Trump's overall approval rating across the country is abysmal.
My guess is that far more than 10,704 people in Michigan who voted for him are feeling disillusioned by a man, whose strengths, critics say, is tweeting and creating divisiveness.
Attorney Gen. Schuette in Warren Wednesday night.
Though Virginia went to Hillary Clinton in 2016, the governor's race there on Tuesday still may be a good indicator of what's to come in 2018 for candidates who embrace the president, or vice versa.
Schuette should pay attention.
The Viriginia Democrat, Ralph Northam, easily beat Republican Ed Gillespie, who Trump backed. Northham got 53.9 percent of the votes compared to Gillespie's 45 percent. Of course, afterwards, Trump said Gillespie lost because he failed to embrace him fully.
Trump could come out of his public-approval funk. But that's a big if. His administration has been unstable, and it certainly doesn't help that Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III is buzzing around Washington like one of those summer mosquitos in the hotel room late at night.
Schuette can continue sucking up to Trump.
But in the end, after November 2018, he may end up having to suck up to someone in the private sector for a job.
