By Laura Weber, Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-921029.mp3
DETROIT/LANSING – The Michigan Republican and Democratic parties held conventions over the weekend to finalize their tickets and come together after contested primaries. As we hear in two reports, both parties face challenges going forward. Republicans have to deal with a tea party insurgency in their ranks, and Democrats intend to run against the status quo in Lansing.
The weekend at the Democratic convention in Detroit began in a crowded room, deep in the labyrinth of the COBO Hall Convention Center. Democratic candidate for governor, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, appeared for the first time with his running mate, Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence.
"This is a moment where two mayors are going to roll up their sleeves, and fix the mess," Lawrence said.
"The mess" Lawrence refers to is years of budget stalemates, cuts to services, and chronic loggerheads between the governor, the Republican-controlled state Senate and the Democratic-controlled state House.
"I don't know that I would agree with the sentiment that it has been an absolute mess," said state Representative Woodrow Stanley. "I would agree with the sentiment that we have not had the kind of relationship between the governor and the Legislature that I would have preferred."
Party loyalists acknowledge public discontent with Lansing and Washington could gear Democrats for a hard fight to maintain control.
"That is going to be a challenge for us; to educate people about why we have the mess we have on our hands, and why we're the best people to fix it," said state Senator Gretchen Whitmer. She's driven a hard line against the Senate Republicans, calling their leadership "The House of No.'" She says giving the GOP more control now would put the state off course to recovery.
"The governor yesterday said Rick Snyder's plan is a turnaround. Well that means turning backward, and we have to keep moving forward," Whitmer said.
And that's the general feeling at the Democratic Party Convention - whether fighting for more control, or fighting to keep what Democrats have. But it's unclear how the Democrats will convince voters they are the right group to clean things up.
As the convention came to a close and crowds dwindled, Bernero addressed those remaining with the question both Democrats and Republicans will have to answer in November.
"Whose side are you on?" asked Bernero. "You can side with the same powerful interests who have called the shots for decades, or you can tell them No more. It's gotta change. The working families of Michigan will now have their say."
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Rick Snyder's "Nerdmobile" is back on the campaign trail. The campaign bus carts a Republican ticket anxious to restore order and discipline to the GOP's victory plans after a raucous convention this past weekend.
Delegates from the Tea Party movement battled the Republican establishment over rules and who would appear on the ballot.
The convention was marred by confusion over delegate credentials, which only fueled the Tea Partiers' suspicions that party regulars would use the rules to outflank them. A defiant effort to put a tea party candidate for lieutenant governor on the ticket instead of Snyder's choice of state Representative Brian Calley stopped the convention in its tracks. Party leaders tried to restore order by calling for a show of hands of people who under an honor system claimed to be delegates.
Outraged Tea Partiers did not trust that at all, and demanded a roll call of every delegate.
"In politics, you know, they do whatever it takes. They scratch, they claw, they bite," said Tea Party delegate Dan Vanden Bosch of Holland. "That's what politics is. People will cheat to win."
Snyder got his choice, but only after the Tea Party candidate ended the insurgent effort by withdrawing. Now, it's up to the nominee to unite his party and launch a general election campaign. Snyder says a tough nominating convention won't alter his efforts to attract the support of independents and Democrats, which was a key to his GOP primary victory.
"We need to bring people together, so I want us to be the place of the best ideas for the future of Michigan by having a vision, having a plan, and I hope people embrace that regardless of their background and I think that benefits all of us in this state," Snyder said.
Today, the typically disciplined Snyder campaign restores order to its schedule. The "Nerdmobile" rolls through northern Michigan and works its way south to Holland, home to many conservative voters. Tea Party country.