So what gives with the Democratic speaker?  Should Republicans scoot over to make room on the already crowded couch of GOP gubernatorial candidates?  The answer is clearly no, but Dillon's intentions here are for that answer to be far less clear to Michigan voters.  It is becoming more and more obvious that Dillon is forming his armies and loading his guns for a battle for governor with the Democratic front-runner Lieutenant Governor John Cherry.  Many have speculated that this is the case and some in fact have urged Dillon to jump in, hoping to convince him the water is fine.  Dillon himself refused to deny (15:40 mark) recently that his health care plan provided a great base for him to build on during a potential gubernatorial try.

So all this taken together, Dillon's intentions here are pretty simple to understand.  As Dillon himself admitted (14:30 mark), the biggest problem a Democratic candidate for governor will have is washing themselves of the stench of the Granholm administration.  In that sense, the perma-stink that is John Cherry has many Democrats secretly taking a step back and holding their noses.  The strategy then is: Run Andy Run!  For governor, and away from Granholm.  And this is exactly what we're seeing now.

While it's helpful in the short-run for a state Democratic leader to seemingly create in-fighting by design, we as Republicans and conservatives should all be very careful about how excited we get about the whole idea.  Already Republicans have thrown rose pedals on the ground Dillon would walk on as a result of his health care plan:

Former Governor John Engler called the plan "obvious", "common-sense" and a "painless way to save a few hundred million dollars."  The former governor even wondered aloud why the plan wasn't part of the Granholm's proposed budget.

Attorney General and Gubernatorial Candidate Mike Cox hailed Dillon's health care plan in a news release shortly after it was introduced saying he was "ready to work with" the Democratic speaker on the plan and urged Governor Granholm and lawmakers to consider the plan as well.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop said that he would do "anything he could" to help usher Dillon's plan through the process.

And finally, Gubernatorial Candidate Rick Snyder pulled back no praise for Dillon saying:

"Speaker Dillon's proposal is a rare display of the outside the box thinking that should be encouraged in this state...This proposal is a step in the right direction and deserves a close look.  It's time for career politicians to set aside politics as usual and focus on long-term solutions."

The first time I read these comments was in newspapers and press releases, the second time I read them was in this column, I'm guessing the next time I read them will be on a piece of "Andy Dillon for Governor" campaign lit.

Dillon is taking a bath of the Granholm administration, and seemingly without knowing it, Republicans and conservatives alike are putting soap in the water, scrubbing him off, and giving him a nice fleecy towel to dry off with.  So if I'm Andy Dillon, I can now say, without any dispute:

1.)I will not be another Jennifer Granholm.  The governor and I might be in the same party, but we have great disagreements on what is best for the people of this state.  For instance, when I proposed my health care plan last year...

2.)Everyone talks about ending the bitter-partisan divide in Lansing.  I agree this must be done.  I've seen firsthand what happens when politics hijacks reason.  But what I can also say, is that I am the only person in this race who has actually brought Democrats and Republicans together, as evidenced by some of the comments from key Republicans when I introduced my health care plan last year...

3.)What I can promise you is that when I am your governor I will answer to you, not the special interests.  I have stood up to them before when they "declared war!" on my health care plan and asked me to withdraw it.  I told them that I wouldn't allow them to block progress for the people of Michigan.

4.)Even some of my most fierce political rivals over the years have said that my ideas are "obvious," "common sense" and the "kind of outside the box thinking" that Lansing needs. Join me in helping the people of Michigan take their state back from Lansing politicians.

So my advice to our GOP companions?  Let's not take the bait and let's be more careful about what we're saying about Dillon's shenanigans.  If you want to support the plan, by all means, support the plan.  But there is a way to do that without naming names, and without wheeling the "Andy Dillon Trojan Horse" through the Michigan GOP city gates.