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The Michigan Daily -.Wednesday, November 15, 2006

BOOK
From page 11B
effectively with Democrats, Gra-
nholm has often appeared inept
at getting any sort of compromise
from Republicans. Her bitter fight
for re-election against conserva-
tive Dick DeVos offered few signs
that she has any ability or desire to
change the harsh, partisan tone in
Lansing - though that may be as
much the fault of our political cul-
ture as it is the result of her ineffi-
ciency as a leader.
Dempsey's book doesn't fully
explain why Milliken's admirers -
say, Granholm - haven't ever had
much luck continuing his legacy of
civility and common sense in state
politics. That's perhaps no fault of
Dempsey's; the answer is certainly
some ineffable mix of the person-
alities of leaders from Milliken's
day on forward, along with changes
to our political life, such as candi-
dates' increased reliance on profes-
sional campaign operatives.
The book is explicitly a political
biography - Dempsey writes in the

Moderate Democrats across
the nation had a fair amount
of success last week, however,
and Dick DeVos's smash-up at
the polls can be blamed at least
in part on his extreme conser-
vative views on social issues.

that long ago, it can seem that he
governed in a different era. In
1978, the gubernatorial race pit-
ted an anti-abortion and arguably
sexist Democrat against the pro-
choice Milliken. In 2006, Rep. Joe
Schwartz (R-Battle Creek), a mod-
erate Republican somewhat in the
mold of Milliken, lost his seat in
Congress in the primary, painted
as a "liberal" and defeated by a fun-
damentalist preacher.
The prevailing political rhetoric
isn't kind to those with anything
less than deathless loyalty to a par-
tisan base. After Milliken endorsed
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) in
the 2004 presidential election,
Dempsey's book relates, a Bush
campaign spokesman responded
with the kind of polarizing rheto-
ric to which we've become accus-
tomed: "What Governor Milliken
doesn't realize is that times have
changed and what we need is a very
strong leader as president to keep
us safe." The author of that state-
ment, John Truscott, most recently
served as the mouthpiece of Dick
DeVos.
Moderate Democrats across the

nation had a fair amount of suc-
cess last week, however, and Dick
DeVos's smash-up at the polls can
be blamed at least in part on his
extreme conservative views on
social issues. Changes to the way
our state and nation approach gov-
ernment may have made it more
difficult for another figure like Mil-
liken to emerge, but it's not impos-
sible. Dempsey's biography should
serve as an important reminder of
that fact.
The Statement.
Michigan: 49
Ohio State: 24
We win.
Want to bet?

preface that it "is not and does not
attempt to be the complete story
of the lives of William and Helen
Milliken." Loose ends like the fate
of the family business Milliken left
behind when he entered public ser-
vice might irritate readers looking
for a more traditional biography of

the longtime governor. And while
Dempsey tries to include Millik-
en's blemishes and shortcomings,
the author is clearly so fond of his
subject that what criticism there is
comes across as half-hearted.
Though Milliken's tenure in
office, from 1969 to 1983, wasn't


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games in the league's
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