Essay: The Rest of the Story - 10/9/06

Political trivia buffs know that the closest election in the nation six years ago was not the presidential race in Florida. It was a race for Congress in Michigan, which Mike Rogers won by 88 votes,

But what fewer people know is the behind-the-scenes story of how that happened – and that a move to make sure Michigan State University students didn’t vote in that election, was key to Rogers’ upset victory. Few expected him to win. Earlier that year, I did a joint appearance with a top Republican pollster. The man predicted – wrongly, it turned out – that George W. Bush would carry Michigan. But he said, “sadly, Mike Rogers is not going to be elected to Congress. Republicans just can’t carry that district in a presidential election year.”

What he didn’t know was that he was behind the times.  College students are far more liberal than older adults. Ingham County Democrats had shrewdly registered thousands to vote from their dorms and student apartments at Michigan State.

Candice Miller, now in Congress herself, people should have to vote where their driver’s license said they lived.

That would, politicians knew, have a potentially serious impact -- if she could get the law changed to require that.

Since students tend to move often, and nobody likes the hassle of getting a new drivers’ license, it would mean that very few students would be able to vote on the campuses where they lived.

A previously little-known state senator agreed wholeheartedly, and rushed a bill through the Michigan Legislature to make the change.

Democrats smelled a rat. “There is no one who can tell us why it’s a good bill or why we are doing this,” protested a young representative from Detroit, one Kwame Kilpatrick. The proposal was even more strongly denounced by State Senator Dianne Byrum.

“Let’s not set up a situation where people are confused and discourage them from voting,” she said. She tried to introduce an amendment to exempt students. Republicans grinned and voted it down and passed the bill saying you have to vote with your driver’s license.

The next year, votes virtually stopped being cast from McDonel, Case, and Hubbard Halls. And as a result, Mike Rogers beat out none other than Dianne Byrum in the closest race in the country. That isn’t to take anything away from his skills as a candidate. It is worth noting that the same voters who gave Rogers that narrow victory also gave Al Gore a pretty easy one.

But if the students were still voting at MSU, he wouldn’t have had a chance. The next year, the Legislature redrew the boundaries to make the Eighth District much more safely Republican, and Rogers has never gotten less than sixty percent of the vote since.

By the way, can you guess the name of the young state senator who sponsored the legislation to change the way students vote?

Yep. Mike Rogers, of course.

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Comments

[Aaron Oesterle]

A question and a comment

Will you be interviewing Marcinkowski?

2nd, somehow, I still think the picture is somehow acurate - copy and paste - http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=C6&Date=20060918&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=917001&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=7

[Tim]

It is my understanding that he will be on tomorrow (Tuesday the 10th.) Wish the two were going to debate somewhere. Little chance of that I bet! If they did, I'm sure it would be to Mr. Marcinkowski's advantage, as Mr. Rogers is no debater. One step beyond the "spin answers" and he doesn't have much substance. His answer concerning our "new partners" in the fight on terrorism was pure spin....Iraq and Afghanistan as new partners in the fight vs those countries that we have lost in the fight is shameful...........