RightMichigan.com || Meet Marietta Robinson

Advertise on RightMichigan.com

NEWS TIPS!

RightMichigan.com

Buzz

Who are the NERD fund donors Mr Snyder?
Tweets about "#RightMi, -YoungLibertyMI, -dennislennox,"

Raise the curtain.

Meet Marietta Robinson

By Nick, Section News
Posted on Wed Jun 04, 2008 at 01:28:23 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)

Meet Marietta Robinson. You might be hearing a lot more about her in the not too distant future. Maybe. Nobody's quite sure. See, Mark Brewer is still looking for a candidate to run against Michigan Supreme Court Justice Cliff Taylor. He's got about $10 million in pledges from gay-special-rights sugar daddy Jon Stryker provided he can find someone to slap his or her name on the ballot.

Lottery Commissioner Scott Bowen? Turned him down. Oakland County Judge Jessica Cooper? Decided to run for County Prosecutor. Ingham County Judge Paula Manderfield? She'd rather run for the Court of Appeals. Judge Stephen Borello? Said no. So did Jim Blanchard.

A lot of folks have told Mark Brewer "no!" And those are just the names we know of. So it falls to the Democrats sixth choice (at best). Marietta Robinson. Maybe. Brewer and the MDP have bungled this entire race so badly we're not even sure at this point. Some "anonymous" Democrat consultant (read: Mark Grebner or our friend Christine from BFM) told Gongwer yesterday that Marietta's the choice. Problem is she's in no position to confirm her candidacy. The woman is in Europe!

That's the mess Brewer's created. He can't even properly orchestrate a candidate announcement for his $10 million pet project.

Let's assume for a moment that Robinson is the candidate... and thank God for her if she is... check out this resume:

Marietta Robinson--Candidate (Allegedly), Michigan Supreme Court

1978-Current: Lawyer, Detroit. A fact she's proud of and repeatedly points out during interviews but a label that voters find less appealing.

2000: Candidate for Michigan Supreme Court. Running what is still considered one of the most aggressive, personal and vitriolic judicial campaigns in Michigan history Robinson faced Cliff Taylor, the same man she's rumored to be running against this year.

Voters met Marietta Robinson and didn't like the way she screamed at them. This was the race that featured a debate where her personal attacks on Taylor were so over the top they generated the now famous rebuttal "If what you say is true, you should not be (talking to the moderator) about this. You should be talking to the sheriff." Robinson did NOT talk to the sheriff. Neither did she win. Robinson flamed spectacularly, failing to garner even 39% of the vote and lost by an astonishing 15 points.

2002: Candidate for Attorney General. Fresh off her disappointing showing during the previous cycle Robinson took a stab at securing the Democrat nomination to run against Mike Cox for Attorney General, an office held by a Democrat for the previous half century. Her opponent in the Dem contest, a little-known State Senator with no experience practicing law, Gary Peters.

Robinson toured the State talking to average voters and the Dem convention delegates who would ultimately choose the nominee. She campaigned to become the State's top lawyer citing her high statewide name recognition, her then twenty-four years experience practicing law and contrasted both with Peters, a state legislator with zero name ID and even less experience in the legal profession.

MDP Insiders considered her electoral prospects and legal qualifications and decided they had a better chance with the legal neophyte. They chose Gary Peters over Marietta Robinson. Peters went on to lose in the general election.

2007-2008: Non-judicial bench warmer for Team Brewer. The Darko Milicic of the Michigan Democratic Party spent the last seventeen months riding the pine as Coach Brewer tried inserting one player after another into the lineup, hoping to make a little electoral magic only to be turned down again and again.

Staring down an empty bench it looks like Brewer is finally, begrudgingly forced to give Robinson the call. But just like Darko's days with the Pistons, the sight of Robinson on the ballot may tell you more about the way the game is going than about her ability to perform.

< Ypsilanti To Up Property Tax | Part-time campaign wrong for Michigan >

Share This: