<span style="font-size: larger;">As they say -- All Is fair In Love &amp; War?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;">With the GOP state convention just 3 days off the battle for the Lieutenant Governor slot on the November ballot with Governor Snyder still looms as the primary focus of the convention.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;">The sad thing is the Lieutenant Governor position is just one of several critical decisions that will be made on Saturday by the convention delegates.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;">They will be choosing who will be on the November ballot for university boards, where conservative voices have been few and far between. They will also be selecting who the &ldquo;conservative&rdquo; Supreme Court nominees will be on the non partisan ballot. Attorney General Bill Schuette and Secretary of State Ruth Johnson will also be seeking renomination, as well as State Board of Education candidates where conservative voices of reason are direly needed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;">The convention should be more appropriately titled the &ldquo;Calley Renomination Convention&rdquo;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;">What saddens me is that openness and transparency, that supposedly the republicans demand of the democrats, is glaringly lacking in our own party.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;">I believe in a fair fight and an even playing field -- but the Nakagiri vs. Calley fight has pitted the high-powered money interests of the Republican Party against a self funded &ldquo;constitutional conservative&rdquo; who believes the Lieutenant Governor should be his own man and not a rubber stamp of the state party or the Governor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;">You have to ask where have the principles of fairness have gone when heavily funded groups like the Michigan Freedom Fund and the Michigan Advocacy Trust become involved at the county level in determining who the state convention delegates should be based upon the sole issue of getting Brian Calley renominated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;">I don&rsquo;t know the numbers but I would guess the &ldquo;Calley Team&rdquo; probably spent several million dollars to get their message out while Nakagiri spent around $13,000 with $10,000 being his own money.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;">It saddens me that people I believed in, and that I thought had principles, have shown it&rsquo;s all about power and getting to the next rung on the political ladder.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;">As voters we must hold our elected leaders accountable&nbsp; for their actions and make sure we send honest and honorable people to represent us at all levels of government!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;">Until we do that we will continue to see government as usual!</span><br />
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<span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"><em><strong><span style="font-size: large;">&ldquo;The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.&rdquo;</span></strong></em><br />
<em><strong><span style="font-size: large;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; -- Edmund Burke</span></strong></em></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;">&nbsp;&nbsp; For an article on the upcoming state republican convention and how the state party and the Governor have put so much energy into trying to control the county parties all over the state to assure Brian Calley&rsquo;s renomination go online at:</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140820/POLITICS02/308200030/Michigan-GOP-braces-tea-party-showdown"><span style="font-size: larger;">http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140820/POLITICS02/308200030/Michigan-GOP-braces-tea-party-showdown</span></a><br />
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