DICK AND JEN

It was reported this week that Dick DeVos, son and heir to Amway-founder Rich DeVos, has a hankering to be governor of our fine state.  He formed an exploratory committee to assess his prospects to run as the Republican candidate for governor in 2006.  If he succeeds in winning the Republican nomination, DeVos's likely opponent will be the current governor, Jennifer Granholm.

A curious thing about this possible match-up is the role the DeVoses played several years ago in bringing it about.  Granholm's stepping stone to the governor's mansion was the attorney general's office.  In 1998 she defeated ex-U.S. Attorney John Smietanka to become Attorney General for the State of Michigan, and parlayed that victory into a successful run for governor in 2002.  While Granholm was a good telegenic candidate in 1998, her victory was by no means assured.  She was tied to McNamara's machine in Wayne County, her platform was "law enforcement lite" compared to the heft Smietanka wanted to bring to the top cop job in the state, and she was a bit brittle in serious debate against him.

Democrat Granholm greatly benefited from a Republican party that had been divided against Smietanka.  Then-Governor John Engler backed a pretty boy candidate from the Detroit area as the Republican nominee for Attorney General instead of Smietanka.  Then the DeVoses, including Dick's wife Betsy who was the Republican Party's chairman, brought their considerable clout within the party to bear against Smietanka.  Even when it became clear Smietanka would receive the party's nod, the DeVoses did not rush to heal the breach, which was especially harmful to him because the DeVoses had helped to bust his West Michigan base in the party.

So why did the DeVoses betray fellow West Michigander Smietanka and pave the way for Granholm?  History, folks, history -- and long memories.  Back in the 'Eighties the DeVoses' multi-level marketing empire Amway had just barely passed muster with the Federal Trade Commission as a legal enterprise.  But, that didn't mean that smoke and mirrors still weren't needed to make Amway look like a financial leviathan.  And so the books were cooked with a Canadian subsidiary to make Amway look more profitable than it was, which in turn exposed it to charges of tax fraud.  Well, who was the U.S. Attorney at the time preparing to prosecute the Amway gang for this?

That's right, John Smietanka.  Little wonder the DeVoses brought out the long knives against him when the opportunity for a kill presented itself.  And that, dear readers, is how the DeVoses made possible a match-up between Dick and Jen come 2006.