views
endorsement
Whitmer The Best Choice
To Continue Michigan Comeback
“It’s not enough for the bird to have two wings. For if
the wings were on the same side of its body, it would
just fl op around endlessly and never fl y. Th e emphasis
is not on the number of wings, but on their placement.
Th ey have to be positioned on opposite sides and
against each other … Two sides pushing against each
other is what gives the bird fl ight.”
—Rabbi Shmuley Boteach quoting
Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi,
the Alter Rebbe
W
e live in an era of political hyper-parti-
sanship, daily witnesses to a zero-sum
game of winners and losers. Heroes and
villains. Champs and chumps. Being willing to listen
to — let alone consider — a point of view other than
your own attracts verbal abuse. Most Americans
still believe that politics is the art of compromise
to get stuff done for the greater good. But we have
been marginalized by the extreme positions of the
Republican Right and the Democratic Left. These
positions are further magnified when one party con-
trols all branches of government.
In Michigan, term-limited Republican Rick Snyder
is concluding eight years in the governor’s chair.
Occasionally bucking his own party, which also con-
trols the senate, house and supreme court, he sought
Democratic collaboration on some key issues, includ-
ing the Healthy Michigan (Medicaid expansion)
and the “Grand Bargain” that helped Detroit emerge
from bankruptcy. With an eye toward attracting and
Arthur M. Horwitz
Publisher / Executive Editor
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F. Kevin Browett
Chief Operating Officer
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OUR JN
MISSION
6
retaining top entrepreneurial talent and the jobs they
would create for Michiganders, Snyder joined hands
with Democrats and some Republicans to put out a
“welcome mat” for immigrants.
Bottom line — the governor sets the example for
collaboration and the tone for discourse in our state.
The recently released 2018 Detroit Jewish
Community Population Study shows our community
can play a significant role on Nov. 6 in deciding the
outcome of the race for governor between Republican
Bill Schuette and Democrat Gretchen Whitmer. Put
simply, we vote. In fact, 96 percent of eligible Detroit
Jewish community voters did so in the 2016 election.
And, while 51 percent of Jewish Detroiters identify as
Democrats and 15 percent as Republicans, 34 percent
said they were political independents.
THE CANDIDATES
Schuette has a long record of public service, holding
either elected or appointed positions for virtually his
entire working career. He is well versed in the ways
of Washington, D.C., and especially Lansing. He has
friends in the White House and secured President
Donald Trump’s endorsement. During his eight years
as Michigan’s attorney general, Schuette leveraged the
power of that office to retain his Republican base of
support while adroitly taking legal action (think Flint
water crisis) that could expand his appeal.
Schuette believes that his election will lead to a
continuation of the policies and economic progress
put into motion by Snyder and the legislature. But
Contributing Writers:
Ruthan Brodsky, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne
Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Don Cohen,
Shari S. Cohen, Julie Edgar, Shelli Liebman
Dorfman, Adam Finkel, Stacy Gittleman,
Stacy Goldberg, Judy Greenwald, Ronelle
Grier, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Allison
Jacobs, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi
Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz,
David Sachs, Karen Schwartz, Robin
Schwartz, Steve Stein, Joyce Wiswell
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more needs to be done, he says, including grow-
ing our population, creating more jobs, reducing
taxes, fixing the roads, improving the quality of our
schools and reforming and improving — rather than
eliminating — the Healthy Michigan law. Of special
interest to the Jewish community, Schuette supports
retention of the so-called “Multi-Cultural Line” in the
state budget that currently provides approximately
$4 million annually for Jewish Family Service, JARC,
JVS, Kadima and Friendship Circle.
Whitmer also possesses a significant record of
public service, elected to the state house and senate
between 2001-2015. Her final four years were as the
Democratic minority leader of the senate, where she
was Snyder’s partner in securing bipar-
tisan support for the passage of some
of his initiatives.
Whitmer believes that her election
will lead to a more comprehensive
approach to fixing our state’s crum-
bling infrastructure, safeguarding the
Gretchen
Healthy Michigan law, reducing the
Witmer
cost of prescription drugs, champion-
ing the extension of the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil
Rights Act to include protections for LGBTQ individ-
uals and returning Michigan to its legacy as a place
where people’s paths to the middle class are restored.
Whitmer also supports retention of the “Multi-
Cultural Line” in the state budget.
continued on page 10
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October 25 • 2018
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Covering and Connecting
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