BY GEORGE WEEKS
Columnist
September 17, 2007 04:00 am For 18 years, Republican National Committeeman Chuck Yob has been the Energizer bunny of the Michigan GOP, bounding among 83 counties to recruit and campaign for candidates, attend hundreds of Lincoln Day dinners and help raise hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yob, who last week amid party infighting reversed his decision to seek re-election next year, has been popular among grassroots activists and achieved clout in national party circles (1992 national convention credentials chairman; narrowly lost national chairman in 1997; elected Midwest Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee in 2004). But the plain-speaking Grand Rapids businessman has not always been in sync with powers atop the state party. Certainly not now. In 1990, he toiled mightily for successful gubernatorial candidate John Engler. But in 1998, when Engler wanted Scott Romney for the GOP attorney general nomination, Yob successfully orchestrated the convention nomination for well-credentialed ex-U.S. Attorney John Smietanka, who then lost to Democrat Jennifer Granholm. The rest is history -- and part of it is that a miffed Engler dumped Yob from the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, a cherished plum. Nonetheless, when Engler sought a candidate for the uphill 2000 challenge of 1st District U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, Yob, then living in Charlevoix, responded. Stupak won with 58 percent of the vote. Although always working hard for the eventual presidential nominee, Yob in early stages supported some losing contenders -- e.g., Texans John Connally in 1980 and Phil Gramm in 1996. Now Yob is supporting fellow straight-talker John McCain for the nomination -- "by far the most prepared candidate to handle the most important issue of our time: the fight against radical Islamist extremism." Yob's son, John, heads staffing of McCain's Michigan campaign. Chairing McCain's Michigan campaign is Attorney General Mike Cox, not now chummy with Chuck. In announcing that he would not seek another term, the elder Yob said that in a recent discussion with Cox he "realized we were not in agreement regarding the future of our party." Furthermore, Yob, who did not support the re-election of Republican State Chairman Saul Anuzis (nor Anuzis of Yob), had this jab in saying he would step aside after the 2008 national convention: "It will be an interesting test to see whether Anuzis and Cox continue to attack other party leaders now that I am no longer a candidate for re-election or whether they choose to attempt to bring the party together. That decision might be determinative of whether we are successful as a party in 2008." In his e-mail to party activists, Yob said Anuzis "was part of the regime that had run almost every unsuccessful campaign in recent memory. ...They still haven't won to this day and our party continues to suffer for it." While Yob contends he could have won another term in February, he said in a phone interview that he withdrew from the fray in the interest of party unity and to save his supporters from "five months of torture." In his e-mail to activists, Anuzis, busy preparing for the Sept 21-23 Mackinac Leadership Conference that will attract nine presidential candidates and the Oct. 9 debate of presidential candidates in Dearborn, said: "Although I have had my differences with Chuck over the years, I want to thank him for his service and commitment to promoting Republican candidates and our party. He sure managed to make things interesting!" Yob undoubtedly will continue to make things interesting as he continues to tout McCain and party infighting continues for the remainder of his term. If Anuzis prevails, the Rev. Keith Butler, unsuccessful contender for the 2006 U.S. Senate nomination, will replace Yob. Allen pitches for vets During his 1990-96 service with the National Guard, including a safe stint in Panama, Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City, was not among those who, he said in announcing a 33-bill package to assist Michigan military personnel, "found themselves in harm's way." As chairman of the Senate Senior Citizens and Veterans Affairs Committee, he has been visiting veterans' facilities in preparation for debate on what he calls "legislation to acknowledge the veterans' service by opening up programs for mental health support, financial and economic incentives and educational facilities." On Friday, he completed the tour by visiting the 200-plus patient Jacobetti facility in Marquette, where, he says, most of the veterans are from World War II, as opposed to downstate facilities where he visited primarily with Vietnam War veterans. Allen said a feature of the economic incentives in the legislative package is to establish a "Michigan Patriot Business" designation -- to be touted on the Web site of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. -- for firms with at least a 50 percent ownership by an active service member or veteran of the Afghanistan or Iraq conflicts. George Weeks retired last year after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.
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