Fieger has, indeed, been back in the news. The main headline in the Detroit Free Press Saturday said that a new poll showed the 59-year-old Fieger far ahead of any of the three official candidates for the Democratic nomination for governor.
That’s the case even though the multi-millionaire malpractice attorney isn’t running … at least not yet.
That same night the poll was published, the new HBO film, “You Don’t Know Jack,“ was shown nationwide for the first time.
Fieger, played by look-alike actor Danny Huston, is a major and largely sympathetic figure in the movie.
But is he running for governor again? I saw Fieger Saturday night. He’s tanned, slim, and charismatic. He is also very wealthy and probably could once again self-fund a campaign.
These days, candidates who can pay their own expenses are as sought after by political parties as wealthy single heiresses used to be by poor young men. So will Geoffrey Fieger run?
Absolutely not.
When I asked, Fieger snorted and shook his head. “Sarah Palin could get elected governor of Michigan this year, running as a Republican. Sarah Palin!”
Like virtually every other top Democrat in the state, he thinks that barring a miracle, Republicans will take back the capitol.
That’s because the economy is so weak, and Jennifer Granholm so deeply unpopular.
That’s why you don’t see Bart Stupak or Gary Peters or former Governor Jim Blanchard getting in.
But Geoffrey Fieger wouldn’t run regardless. Here’s why. For one thing, he couldn’t afford to do it. The governor of Michigan makes $177,000 dollars a year. But Fieger needs to generate millions to keep up his lifestyle, which includes a mansion in Bloomfield Hills and a nice house on an Oakland County lake.
He also owns a house in Arizona, another up north, a palace and a hotel on the Caribbean island of Anguilla, and his own airplane.
Since he last ran for governor twelve years ago, Fieger and his wife have adopted three kids, the oldest of whom is eight.
Now, true, others could run his vastly successful law firm. But Geoffrey Fieger’s star power is what brings the clients in.
There’s another reason he won’t run. He hates losing. He expected to win when he ran for governor in 1998. He regarded the incumbent, John Engler, as a “fat nincompoop.“
But Engler won in a landslide. Fieger got only thirty-eight percent, losing every county in the state except one. Part of the problem was that he represented Dr. Death.
However, he also is prone to the sort of outrageous statements that teenage boys love, but which don’t sound quite right coming from a governor, such as his frequent allegation that his opponent was the result of cross-breeding with barnyard animals.
Frankly, I think that if he did become governor, Fieger would be largely bored. I can’t see him having the ladies of Grand Traverse County to tea to discuss state cherry week.
So why does he keep hinting that he might run? Because he learned a long time ago that if he says it, the media will come.
That’s good for his ego, and doesn’t hurt his law practice either.
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