How citizens can cut through interest group politics this year

This is an election year. And with the primary less than a month away, candidates are frantically seeking endorsements.

Some of these come from individuals. For example, we have Detroit’s members of Congress, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and John Conyers, endorsing Democrat Virg Bernero for governor. Mitt Romney, the once and future Presidential candidate, has endorsed Republican Pete Hoekstra for the same job.

That’s just a sample. Many more endorsements come from organizations representing various particular economic and social interests. Some candidates court some, some others, and some take whatever they can get. The number of such groups is staggering. Here’s a partial list:

Organized labor: Michigan AFL-CIO; Michigan Education Association; United Auto Workers; Teamsters; American Federation of County, State and Municipal Workers; building and construction trades; fire fighters; police; service workers.

Business: Michigan Chamber of Commerce; Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce; Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce; Small Business Association of Michigan.

Specific Issue Interest Groups: Michigan Right to Life; Michigan Planned Parenthood; National Association of Women; Green Party of Michigan; Sierra Club; League of Conservation Voters; Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund; Michigan Taxpayers Alliance.

Some groups you hadn’t thought of, including the Shooters Alliance for Firearms Rights and the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners. Also, various “Tea Party” groups.

How do such groups decide whom to endorse? They send out questionnaires soliciting candidates’ views on their particular interests. I remember when I last ran for University of Michigan regent back in 1998. Then, there must have been 50 of ‘em. Now, there must be hundreds. Candidates (and their staffs) spend hours filling out questionnaires, trying to figure out how to be both positive (sometimes referred to as “pandering”) and at the same time maintain some wiggle room. Asking candidates to take a “no new tax pledge” is only the best example of organizations trying to get candidates locked in to support their particular point of view. Fine. Fair is fair, and both special interest groups and candidates alike are perfectly free to advocate for their particular cause. That’s how democracy works.

However, here’s my concern: Each interest group represents its only particular slice of special interest. And each makes its endorsements favoring those who agree with them on that. But what about the average citizen? What about the average person who doesn’t define themselves in narrow, special-interest terms? He or she may be a member of a union, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they agree with the union leadership as to how to vote. He or she may be a gun owner, but that doesn’t mean lock-step agreement with the National Rifle Association. The same goes for many other issues. Even worse: The average citizen looking at all these endorsements from special interest groups can easily conclude that the political world is so fully stocked with single interest organizations that there is no place left for the ordinary citizen to express his or her own political views. And that leads the average Joe or Jane to feel left out – “marginalized” in the language of the sociologists.

Result: even more turned-off voters. But they don’t have to feel that way. There are things an ordinary (non-interest group advocate) citizen can do to stay involved, many of them sponsored by the non-partisan Center for Michigan. You can watch the debates between the candidates, including those sponsored by The Center and available on The Center’s web site. You can also sign one of The Center’s statewide petitions on the web; they call for tax reform, increasing spending on colleges and universities, and changing term limits. And you can send in instances of false or misleading political ads to the Michigan Truth Squad at www.michigantruthsquad.com. Without a doubt, it’s easy to feel silenced and alienated by the blizzard of special interests. But there are ways to stay involved and informed that don’t require you to be in lock-step with any interest group. That’s one reason I started the Center for Michigan five years ago. To see all the others, come visit: www.thecenterformichigan.net.

Editor’s Note: Former newspaper publisher and University of Michigan Regent Phil Power is a longtime observer of Michigan politics and economics and a former chairman of the Michigan chapter of the Nature Conservancy. He is also the founder and president of The Center for Michigan, a bipartisan centrist think-and-do tank which is sponsoring Michigan’s Defining Moment, a public engagement outreach campaign for citizens. The opinions expressed here are Power’s own and do not represent the official views of The Center. He welcomes your comments at ppower@thecenterformichigan.net.