(Source: MIRS.news, Published 12/05/2023) Perhaps one of the most popular political parlor games in town these days may be to pick an adjective that best describes the Michigan Republican Party.
MIRS asked veteran political watchers Bill Ballenger and John Sellek to play.
"They are in a shambles right now. It's pretty much total chaos," said Ballenger.
Sellek chimed in with the words "unprecedented and historic." At no other time in modern-day Michigan Republican Party matters has this town seen an internal civil war-like battle to oust the sitting party chair and her unrelenting counterattack to survive.
Such is the current state of affairs involving a planned state committee vote against Kristina Karamo later this month.
Ballenger looks at what is next if she gets the boot.
"Somebody else will need to be chair and who is that going to be?" And more to the point, who could possibly satisfy the demands of so many splinter groups within the party, not to mention the chunk of those loyal to Donald Trump?
Sellek reflected that Karamo was installed into the chair's position by grassroots activists who took power away from the more traditional party power-brokers. Now these grassroots activists are fighting each other.
"Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is laughing all the way to the next election as this helps to elect Joe Biden," he forecasted.
But Ballenger has a warning.
"The Democrats had better not get cocky or overconfident, otherwise they could be in for a shock," Ballenger said. Minus an active party apparatus to help them, he said Republican candidates are finding ways to run. Just because the party is not helping, does not translate into a loss depending on the quality of the candidates and their ability to build "their own silo" to take them to victory.
