Our introduction happened to be at the Republican breakfast in the Hotel the Michigan delegates stayed at for the 2008 RNC convention.  He claimed he was picking SOS Land's brains for ideas on how he could pull their motor vehicle division into the SOS fold in MN.  I thought at the time it was odd for the executive from their elections bureau to be spending so much time in the company of "the enemy".   not sure that had anything to do with the Smalley result, but I know he wasn't afraid to try something different.