Attorney General

     You might be thinking, attorney general? That sounds boring, why am I reading this? I want to read about something that actually affects me. What you might not realize is that it's a pretty important-- and extremely influential-- office to hold. Furthermore, it's a position whose effects could potentially have a huge impact on your life, and deserves a great deal of attention.
     The reason for this is at the heart of the job: a state attorney general is essentially the state government's lawyer. Not only does the attorney general legally represent every person and agency in the government, the state government itself and government agencies seek the attorney general's opinion for counsel, as well as for any potential conflicts that arise (perhaps out of a conflict of jurisdiction). Also, the attorney general represents the public and public interests in policymaking matters that greatly affect the everyday lives of people (for instance, overseeing issues like environmental and child protective laws, consumer affairs, etc).  One more thing: the AG is the first and foremost in law enforcement.
     So as you can see, the attorney general is EXTREMELY important to the decision-making processes of the government. Basically, think of the "three branches of government" from your high school government class: executive, legislative and judicial. And you might say that the attorney general is the head of the state's judicial branch: the alpha dog of the Michigan court system entrusted with doing his or her best to see that the laws are doing their jobs.
     Another reason that the attorney general is important is because often, they ascend the governmental ranks after their terms are over-- in fact, Governor Granholm was Michigan's AG before she was governor, and, a lot of times, attorneys general often make it to the United States Supreme Court or even the Presidential Cabinet.
    So, while you're deciding who you want to vote for, make sure you take one major thing into consideration: YOUR opinion. Well, duh...
    What I mean is that you can think of the attorney general, to put it quite simply, as the voice of the government, and the peoples' voice in the government. So, as with any elected official, you should choose the person whose positions on issues are as similar to yours as possible. So, when the Powers That Be are looking around asking each other "Yeah, the water should be clean, but HOW clean does it need to be? It could cost money..." or "How many breaks do people REALLY need at work?" "What the hell is 'green' energy anyway? Burning coal works, doesn't it?" aren't you going to want the person who answers to... well... have the right answer?

Your candidates:

David Leyton (D): Genessee County prosecutor; ex-Flint Township trustee & attorney
 
Mike Bishop (R): State Majority Leader; ex-state rep & attorney
 

Bill Schuette (R): Ex-state appeals court judge; ex-congressman; ex-state senator & ’90 US senate nominee
 

Daniel Grow (Libertarian): Attorney, Libertarian activist & ’08 US Rep Candidate
 
Corey McCord (Tea Party): Attorney



***Fun fact: Michigan is home to the youngest; oldest; and longest-serving attorney general-- yes, they are all the same guy (Frank Kelly). Amazing.***