One of the many results of the right-to-work cataclysm in the state capital Thursday is the revelation that Gov. Rick Snyder is really just another ordinary politician.
Snyder seemed to revel in the perceived difference during his first couple of years as governor. He had not held political office at any level before becoming governor, and, for the most part, he didn’t act like a politician. At least he separated himself from the tea-party crackpots who have turned the GOP into a party in search of a national program that makes sense for most Americans
His mantra was “relentless positive action,” and he brought the mindset of an entrepreneur, rather than a hardcore ideologue, to the governor’s office.
Snyder is hardly a liberal, given his advocacy of such policies as the stringent emergency manager law that state voters killed last month. But unlike Republican governors in other states, he seemed to believe picking fights was bad for business and harmful to moving Michigan forward.
How many times did we hear Snyder say right-to-work was not on his agenda? Until suddenly, overnight, right-to-work was on his agenda.
Let’s say, for the sake of discussion, that right-to-work legislation is truly a good thing, and that it will, as its proponents argue, make Michigan the economic comeback state and liberate enslaved workers.
Then why treat the legislation like it’s a horrible secret?
Why suddenly announce it in the morning, attach it to another bill, insulate it from a future referendum and ram it through the legislature in the afternoon with no committee hearings, no debate and no citizens allowed in the capital?
Why not let its proponents lay right-to-work out in all its splendor for Michigan residents to see? Why the rush? Because the legislature that takes office in January might not pass it?
Even people who hate unions have to admit the labor movement has played a major role in Michigan for decades. Shouldn’t such a sea change in public policy be the subject of a serious political debate?
In an interview with the New York Times published Friday, Snyder equivocated, saying he would not have brought right-to-work to the forefront at this time.
“We’ve come to the point over the last few weeks and the last month or two where that issue was on the table whether I wanted it to be there or not,” he told the Times.
“And given that it was on the table. I think it is appropriate to be a good leader and to stand up and take a position on the issue.”
Those are wishy-washy words. Nelson Rockefeller words. Common, ordinary politician words. Snyder wasn’t leading on right-to-work, he was following. He was being pushed, and he gave in.
The “one tough nerd” of yesteryear has turned into a oleaginous Babbitt right in front of our eyes. It certainly happened fast.
