One of my pet peeves as a journalist was the tendency of reporters to start trolling the political waters for candidates for office years before the election. One particular offender in my eyes was veteran reporter Tim Skubick of Lansing, who made it a habit of asking anyone who was ever on his show, "Are you thinking of running for governor?" or "Are you thinking of running for U.S. Senate?"
The target would always say yes because just about every politician has thought about running for a higher office than the one he or she currently holds. One time, Skubick asked Dr. Jack Kevorkian if he was thinking of running for governor, and then dashed off a story, which all the reporters had to waste time chasing, saying that Kevorkian was thinking of running for governor. The problem as I saw it, was that these were just pipe dreams, not people thinking about putting together an exploratory committee and actually doing it. When asked if they were thinking about running, they just said yes and nothing else. It was fake news.
So when I saw the news that former Michigan Supreme Court justice and Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer is considering running for governor, I wondered if that fit into the same category.
But the story in the Detroit Free Press seems to have some substance. Archer says he has been approached by so many people that he has been forced to think about it.
An Archer candidacy in 2010, when Gov. Jennifer Granholm is nearing the end of her last term, would be a formidable one. Others, such as Lt. Gov. John Cherry, are also likely candidates.
It's too early to pick sides, but I would like to hear what Archer thinks he could do for Michigan.
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