DeVos Loses His Mind
For weeks now, I've argued that Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos needs to move the debate away from the factory that he opened in China as president of Amway. I even went so far as to say that he needs to move the debate away from Amway itself - because anything that reminds voters of his connection to Amway only helps Governor Jennifer M. Granholm (D, MI).
Well, it looks like DeVos has finally found a way to do that - by advocating the teaching of "Intelligent Design" in science classes throughout Michigan.
I have to admit that I was suprised by this.
It wasn't that I was shocked that DeVos advocates putting things in science classes that have nothing to do with science. I just couldn't believe that DeVos was willing steer the debate away from economic issues, towards a conservative social issue. He was only responding to a question that he got from the reporter. However, his campaign to date has been trying desperately to steer clear of the conservative social policies that he has advocated over the years.
And now, after more than a year of successfully dodging these issues - he jumped into the middle of them all with only 47 days left until the election. I have to ask: purely from a political sense, what was he thinking?
Conversations for the next couple of days will no doubt be dominated for DeVos' new call for Intelligent Design to be taught in Michigan science classes. That's time that won't be spent talking about anything else.
To make matters worse for Michigan Republicans, I suspect that what eventually bumps the Intelligent Design story out of the news cycle will only be more coverage of DeVos opening a factory in China for Amway.
Granholm is declining any public comment on this. Still, knowing the impact that this will have, she has to be pleased.
