If it seems as if Michigan Republicans are just going through the motions of a gubernatorial primary campaign, listlessly ticking off the days until Aug. 2 when they can officially anoint a sacrificial lamb to face Gretchen Whitmer in the fall, that's because that's what's happening.
By traditional measures, what the five Republicans left in the race are doing this summer barely qualifies as a political campaign.
"None of them have any statewide organization. None have spent any money on field operations. None have spent any money on voter outreach. It's a primary unlike any I’ve ever seen before."
That's from John Yob, perhaps Michigan's most die-hard Republican and noted campaign strategist. Early in the season, he backed first James Craig, then Perry Johnson, both of whom got wiped out by petition signature troubles.
Yob sees little reason for hope in the remaining GOP contenders — Tudor Dixon, Kevin Rinke, Garrett Soldano, Ryan Kelly and the Rev. Ralph Rebandt.
"It was always going to take someone a cut above to be competitive with Gretchen Whitmer," Yob says. "I don't know whether any of these candidates can give her a run for her money."
Keeping the general election race competitive is vital for Republicans, particularly since they've picked such disastrous candidates to run for attorney general and secretary of state. If the entire top of the GOP ticket collapses, it could wipe out Republicans in congressional and legislative races as well.
And yet many Republicans are sitting out the race.
"The typical Republican is not engaged," says William Nowling, a public relations executive and one-time communications director of the state party. "What an abomination. Even when we were running against an incumbent we always were able to get somebody. We’ve got nobody now. I’ve been in this business 30 years and I’ve never heard of these people."
What's not happening on the trail that normally happens in organized, professional campaigns? Check your mailbox and voicemail.
"I’ve had an absentee ballot for three weeks, and I haven’t received a phone call, a text or a mailer from any of the gubernatorial candidates," says Dennis Lennox, a northern Michigan GOP activist and commentator. "It’s campaign malpractice not to be chasing absentee voters."
It's also a sign of empty war chests. Businessman Rinke has pledged $5 million to his own campaign, but is slow in spending it. Dixon has the backing of the wealthy DeVos family, but again, there's little evidence yet she's awash in their cash.
Big Republican donors "are frozen," says former GOP Congresswoman Candice Miller, now drain commissioner for Macomb County. "There's not much movement there. No one has any money except for Rinke. It really is an odd election cycle."
Lurking out there still is Donald Trump, who, with the election three weeks away, has not revealed his favorite. He's said to like Dixon, but doesn't like the DeVoses. And he he doesn't like to lose.
GOP co-Chair Meshawn Maddock told our Kaitlyn Buss she talked to Trump last week, and "he's not ready to endorse."
I doubt even Trump could light a fire under this dismal race.
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