The Washington Post, sitting amid the increasingly polarized capital, looks westward and finds a Republican who signed a minimum-wage bill, supported Medicaid expansion, called for more immigrants and probably believes in evolution.
Of course, Snyder also signed the right-to-work law, slashed business taxes and cut unemployment, but his modus operandi in today's increasingly rigid GOP makes Snyder look like a middle-of-the-road statesman -- "anything but a conservative Republican."
The Washington Post marvels over Snyder's efforts to fix Detroit -- especially the way in which bankruptcy is shaping up as a relative victory for pensioners and the DIA over Wall Street. It notes city residents gave Snyder only five percent of the vote in the last gubernatorial election.
Less than a year ago, Snyder pushed Detroit into bankruptcy. Now he’s an unlikely driving force rallying the rest of the state to help this overwhelmingly Democratic city back on its feet, writes Michael A. Fletcher.
Fletcher quotes Snyder as saying that helping Detroit is crucial, partly because a bankruptcy settlement would spare the state litigation and social service costs.
More important, he added, it will help dissipate a gloomy cloud that has hung over the Michigan economy for well over a decade. “How much value does that have?” he asked a roomful of business and political leaders at a recent policy retreat on Mackinac Island.
The Post has no allusions about the difficulty of fixing Detroit, and even includes in the article a week-old gallery of photos that shows the city at its worst.
“People around the world know of our largest city’s proud past as well as the struggles of its difficult but necessary bankruptcy,” Snyder said, adding: “This settlement plan will allow Detroit to build a solid fiscal foundation for its continuing comeback.”
