Associated Press: Straw vote has Michigan GOP candidates scrambling

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP) — They're everywhere: Packs of teens and young adults decked out in Day-Glo green "Rick Snyder for governor" T-shirts filling the streets on Mackinac Island and the hallways of the Grand Hotel.

Snyder, an Ann Arbor venture capitalist making his first run for public office, covered many of the costs for his supporters to come to the island and help him in a straw vote being conducted during the three-day Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference. The poll results will be announced Sunday.

Other candidates also brought along campaign volunteers, supplying them with T-shirts and lodging and offering free food and drink at events aimed at drawing actual and potential supporters. But the Snyder campaign effort was the most noticeable, offering prizes to supporters who did the most to promote their boss during the conference.

"He's making a big play to do well in the straw vote or even win it," said Bill Ballenger, editor of the "Inside Michigan Politics" newsletter. "If he doesn't do well, people are going to ask, 'What does this guy bring?'"

Snyder is trailing many of the other Republicans in the six-way race because he's a newcomer, Ballenger said Saturday. Attorney General Mike Cox, in office for seven years, and U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a West Michigan congressman for 15 years, are better known. And Oakland County Sheriff has statewide name recognition after taking on U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow in 2006, even though he lost.

The other two candidates in the race are state Sen. Tom George and emergency medical technician Tim Rujan. Like Snyder, they're not well known. But Snyder, who has already donated at least $340,000 to his own campaign, has the money to change that.

Snyder, a former executive at computer-maker Gateway Inc., said his efforts on Mackinac Island are about making political participation fun for young people.

His campaign is using cell phones, tracking software and video displays to let volunteers sign up for and track the points they've earned for posting comments about the campaign on Facebook and Twitter, attending Saturday morning's GOP gubernatorial debate, writing letters to the editor and voting in the weekend's nonbinding straw poll.

"It's really cool, and I'm excited," Snyder told reporters as he demonstrated how "Rick's Innovation Network" works. "This is the right use of technology, a fun use of technology, to increase involvement in politics."

Some of the other Republicans in the race didn't seem too bothered by Snyder's campaign technology or his swarms of supporters.

"The strategy behind it clearly is (that) someone believes that that's a good investment of their time, energy and money to do that," Hoekstra said. "Our strategy is creating a statewide, broad-based, grass-roots network. ... Bringing a bunch of folks to the island wasn't one of the things that we thought was important to do or a good investment of our time or our money."

Cox gave campaign volunteers long-sleeved T-shirts showing a picture of the Governor's Residence on Mackinac Island — now in the hands of Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm — with the slogan, "Their Days are Numbered." His campaign paid for volunteers' hotel rooms, meals and ferry fees, and he held Friday and Saturday receptions. He said it's a way to energize the volunteers and GOP faithful at the once-every-two-years event.

"A lot of them make big sacrifices. They don't have a lot of money to come here," Cox said of his volunteers. "They'd like to get fired up and go to events and hang out. It's ... meant to pay back all the people who help us out."

Bouchard held a large reception as the conference was kicking off Friday with his running mate, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, that was attended by plenty of volunteers in Bouchard-Land campaign T-shirts. But Bouchard said the weekend straw poll isn't that important.

"There's a lot of people who put a whole lot of money into paying to have people come up and put on a shirt and vote," he said. "I'm not focused on the straw polls. ... The straw poll will be in the garbage can Sunday night."