Snyder or Bernero? Stephen Jackson

With Election Day 2010 less than a week away, the GOP is poised to make serious gains at both the state and national levels.

In this election, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 37 U.S. Senate positions are up for grabs. In Michigan legislature, all 38 state senate and all 110 state representative seats are up for reelection as well.

Michigan is also one of 37 states with gubernatorial races this year.

Michigan Gubernatorial Race

Everything is looking good for Republican Rick Snyder who, according to polls, is leading Democrat Virg Bernero by about 20 points in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

If all the signs play out, it looks like Michigan will be changing from a blue to a red state this fall. It’s no wonder the GOP will be reclaiming the governorship after eight years of Granholm. In recent years we’ve seen an economic downturn, the collapse of the Michigan auto industry, and double-digit unemployment rates under the leadership of a Democratic governor and a Democratic-controlled state House.

As a former Gateway executive and successful businessman, Snyder has what it takes to help grow Michigan businesses and help the state’s economy flourish once again. His business background also gives him what is needed to help balance Michigan’s budget on time, something which hasn’t happened for some time now.

He has the ability to control and limit unnecessary government spending and isn’t afraid to err on the side of fiscal conservatism, something the current Michigan legislature has a problem with.

The other factor Snyder has going for him is that he’s a political newcomer. Snyder has no political baggage and has not entwined himself in the legislative bureaucracy of government, something that can’t be said for Lansing Mayor Bernero.

In this time of anti-incumbent, anti-government fervor, Snyder presents the most attractive offer. He reshaped the political campaign landscape by running a grassroots movement and sticking to his message, “Reinvent Michigan.”

This strategy helped beat out seasoned politicians like Pete Hoekstra and Mike Cox in the GOP primary and has aided him in the fight against Bernero.

“It’s critical that I am an outsider, we need someone new,” Snyder has said. “Someone who has common sense [and] real world solutions.”

Real world solutions and common sense are exactly what the citizens of Michigan need because our current legislators have none. Snyder has the real world solutions and common sense to rebuild Michigan’s economy, create jobs, and make the state thrive again.

U.S. House of Representatives and Senate

Democrats currently hold 255 seats in the House and Republicans hold 178 seats. There are two vacancies.

Recent projections show there is going to be a major political shake-up in the House, with the GOP likely to claim dozens of seats currently held by the Democrats, many of whom were elected in the anti-Republican zeal in 2006 and 2008.

The current make-up of the Senate is 59 Democrats and 41 Republicans. In order to seize control Republicans would need to hold on to all 41 of their seats and win 10 of the 19 Democratic seats up for grabs: an unlikely, yet not impossible feat. n