Polls show long odds for Democrats beating any Republican in Michigan governor's race

On this week's Talking Michigan Politics podcast, Jeff and Ed discuss: 1. Gov's race. New polls show U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra maintaining a lead on the Republican side, with Mike Cox slipping and Mike Bouchard now at 5 percent. On the other side, as Politics Daily put it, "some other candidate" leads the three Democrats in the Rasmussen Reports poll March 24. "It's pathetic we don't have a candidate," Robert Kolt, a Democratic-leaning public relations consultant, told the Detroit News. "We have nobody with any marquee name value." But Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, who drew 8 percent to House Speaker Andy Dillon's 12, says he, too, is a nerd. Another Dem, state Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith notched 10 percent. Still, Dems continue not to inspire, meaning, Jeff posits, that independents will vote in the GOP primary, which would be a good thing for Rick Snyder. 2. Anonymous commenting online The issue was brought to the forefront by a recent situation at cleveland.com. 3. Poll: Dems bear more blame for threats A new poll finds the public casts blame on both sides for threats of violence toward members of Congress following the health care bill vote, though slightly more blame "political maneuvers" by Democratic lawmakers: • 49 percent said controversial political maneuvers by Democratic leaders to win passage of the measure was the major reason for the angry fallout. • 25 percent said this was a minor reason. • 22 percent said these were not a factor at all. • 46 percent pointed the finger at harsh criticism of the health care measure from conservative commentators on radio and television. • 26 percent considered this a minor reason. • 23 percent said it was not a cause. • 43 percent said harsh criticism of the measure from Republican leaders was a major cause. • 29 percent said it was a minor cause and 23 percent said it was not a reason at all. Independents spread the blame around more evenly: • 50 percent citing the maneuvers of Democratic leaders • 44 percent the criticism from conservative commentators • 40 percent the rhetoric of Republican leaders. Conversation starters: • Jeff on a New York Magazine story that suggested women should run Wall Street. • Ed's conversation starter is the Grand Rapids Press winning a lawsuit to force the Coopersville school district to disclose how much they paid to victims in a 2007 JV baseball hazing case.