“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”
Real or apocryphal, this quote is often attributed to Yankee legend Yogi Berra, a player known just as much for his bizarre one liners as his success on the playing field. And that’s saying something, because he was about as successful as it gets when it comes to baseball.
Whoever originally said it, in a roundabout manner, the above quote is directly applicable to the future of the State of Michigan.
I don’t think it’s unfair to say that things aren’t great in Michigan right now, just like they aren’t great in America overall. It’s easy to finger point and claim that everything bad that is happening is the direct consequence of one’s political opponents, but as with most generalizations, I don’t know that such a declaration is entirely fair.
What I do know is that many people in Michigan are unhappy about how the last few years have gone, and there is a prevailing notion that when November rolls around these unhappy people will heroically come out in droves to “cast their ballots” and “set things right”.
I truly hope that does happen, but I’m a little worried that the underlying concept behind Yogi’s quote could disrupt the foretold “Restoration of Michigan” that so many people suggest is inevitable.
The quote itself is absurd, of course, in the sense that it consists of two planks which cannot both be true at the same time. Wherever "there" is, either nobody goes there, or it’s too crowded. It can’t be both. But the quote lives on because in spite of its paradox, it still makes some level of sense to readers, because they understand the bizarre quirks of human behavior that allow seemingly bizarre contradictions of thought to exist. In a weird way, we understand that there likely have been scenarios where people stopped going to a place because they were thoroughly convinced that it was too crowded, and that led to the place no longer being crowded. People felt everyone else was doing it, so they wouldn’t, and therefore in the end, no one did.
That is my greatest worry about the upcoming election in Michigan.
There is such an overwhelming feeling of certainty among some people that Gretchen Whitmer is doomed at the polls due to the many egregious errors she has made, that I fear individuals across the state may work less than is necessary because they feel the result is already “in the bag”.
Let me state it outright: The result of the November, 2022 election is absolutely not in the bag. Anyone who thinks it is has no idea how Gubernatorial Elections work.
Gretchen Whitmer is not going to be easy to unseat. The idea that millions of conservatives who didn’t vote in the last election are going to magically appear out of the woodwork for this one is a pleasant thought, but it is not something that should be counted on.
The biggest issue conservatives face in the 2022 election is the fallacy of exaggerating the prominence of local thought. What I mean by this is that voters who live in the country typically talk to other people in the country and therefore are bombarded with local political thoughts, in this case, how terrible Gretchen Whitmer is and how everybody hates her. This leads these people to overestimate how negative the overall feeling in the state is toward the Governor. If left unchecked, this overestimation can lead people to be less vigilant when voting season comes, because they are just “so certain than everybody despises Gretchen Whitmer and will be out in droves to vote against her.”
The problem with this, of course, is that not everyone in the state believes Gretchen Whitmer to be the terrible Governor that many do.
Not by a long shot.
It’s no secret that big cities with big populations control elections. Take a look at any county voting results map of Michigan or Illinois and you can’t miss it. These county maps are dominated by red year in and year out, but the cities with the most people often singlehandedly sway the vote blue.
This is an undeniable truth that the voters of Michigan cannot afford to forget come November.
I don't mean to scare you, but despite her many blunders, Gretchen Whitmer still has a stranglehold over the votes of major cities like Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Lansing. She still has a stranglehold over the vote of many unions, especially powerful teacher unions. Couple these ideas with the fact that many people who have fallen for the Covid fear narrative have similarly been duped into believing that the Governor is doing a good job, and it becomes clear that this election will be a close race.
Individual Michigan voters must not fall victim to the mindset which says, “I don’t need to go to the voting booth because it will already be so crowded with millions of others who can’t stand Gretchen Whitmer.” That is a dangerous fallacy that could lead the state of Michigan to an even darker place than it is already in. Because make no mistake, Democrats are going to financially support Gretchen Whitmer. They are going to campaign for Gretchen Whitmer. And they are going to get out and vote for Gretchen Whitmer.
Due to this, those opposed to Gretchen Whitmer need to be more active than ever if they hope to retake the Governor’s Office in 2022. That doesn’t just mean getting to the booth to vote. It means rallying behind and actively supporting whoever ends up opposing Gretchen Whitmer, in ways that average citizens haven’t necessarily bothered with in the past.
Conservatives will need to put aside their minor political differences and actively unify as never before if they hope to put an end to the major political disaster that has been Gretchen Whitmer’s term as Governor.