By Zachary Gorchow
Executive Editor and Publisher
Posted: February 7, 2020 3:51 PM

Over the course of nine days, Governor Gretchen Whitmer used three high-profile moments to recast her governorship and enhance her stature as a national political player.

The State of the State address and the budget recommendation are on the calendar every year. This year, unlike last year, Ms. Whitmer would deliver them in close proximity, the first on January 29, the second February 6. What was new to the mix this year and required a rapid stand-up to pull off, was Ms. Whitmer delivering the Democratic response on national television to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address on February 4.

Eleven months ago, Ms. Whitmer was going for the moon, and, some might argue, the sun and the stars too with a proposed 45-cent per gallon fuel tax increase to raise $2.5 billion more per year for roads and free up hundreds of millions in the regular budget diverted for roads back to their usual purposes like education and state services. As everyone knows, it didn't work out. The public revolted, the Legislature declared the proposal dead on arrival, and Ms. Whitmer's signature issue – fix the damn roads – saw no progress in 2019.

To make matters worse, the fuel tax was so embedded in Ms. Whitmer's proposed budget that the budget dragged on through all of 2019 and didn't end in a way that left Ms. Whitmer or majority Republicans in the Legislature feeling especially happy.

Ms. Whitmer's State of the State address a week ago took a far different tone from the one in 2019. She made it clear she would not wait on the Legislature anymore. She's using the bonding power her administration has to more than double spending on state-owned roads in the next five years from what it would have been with an extra $3.5 billion. Republicans in the Legislature are grumbling, but there's nothing they can do to stop it. A usual Republican ally, Rich Studley of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, is praising the bonding move and scoffing at the GOP criticism and Ms. Whitmer when she runs for reelection in 2022 will be able to point to a whole lot of road work happening without a tax increase.

The bonding mechanism completely redefines 2020. If 2019 was all about a torturous and ultimately failed effort at compromise with the Legislature that produced no new money for roads and sucked almost all the oxygen out of the Capitol, now road funding revenue is not an immediate, pressing concern. It is long-term because road funding will fall off a cliff in five years once the bond proceeds are exhausted and local roads need a lot of new money too, but now it means time is on Ms. Whitmer's side on roads.

Ms. Whitmer has many times expressed bemused amazement that the 2018 campaign saw her become the "fix the damn roads lady." That threatened to become an anvil around her, both in preventing her from working on other priorities and in failing to deliver on a promise, if she didn't get significant roadwork done in her first term. It's important to note the bond money will do nothing for local roads, which are in worse shape than state roads, but there's no question between now and 2022, motorists are going to see a ton of orange cones and roadwork in their travels.

That brings us to the budget recommendation, which Ms. Whitmer unveiled Thursday.

What a difference a year makes.

There were no new taxes, far fewer swipes at Republican priorities (and the ones that remain feel like negotiating points that the governor will likely cede as part of a final deal) and some catchy new programs that are hard for Republicans to reject, like a big effort to prevent infant mortality and emergency environmental cleanups. There are new programs on core Democratic issues like public education, climate change and student loan debt.

Some Republican operatives chided some aspects of the budget like the $100,000 for a state poet laureate, but the response from Republican legislators Thursday was pretty warm all things considered. Eleven months ago, there was little doubt the budget would be a bitter fight to the end of the fiscal year and maybe beyond (and it was). This year, the quick consensus is there's no reason the Legislature and the governor can't wrap up the budget in June and meet the new statutory deadline of July 1.

Ms. Whitmer made it clear in remarks to reporters Thursday she will emphasize her priorities but also notably said she would "not tilt at windmills" and make proposals destined to fail. That's why she is taking executive action where she can (like the road bonds, forthcoming rules expanding overtime to more salaried professional workers and new parent leave time for state employees) and steering clear of tax increases.

Smack-dab in the middle of these two events Ms. Whitmer gave the Democratic response on national television to Mr. Trump. This is a high-risk, high-reward event. A gaffe, a bad speech or some other snafu is always a worry. But a successful speech pays off.

I spoke with four veteran political operatives the day after the speech, two loyal Republicans and two loyal Democrats (See Gongwer Michigan Report, February 5, 2020). They all agreed Ms. Whitmer succeeded. Naturally the Republicans are not with Ms. Whitmer on policy, but as far as "meeting the moment" as one of them put it, she did. It was a smooth, polished speech, one that introduced her to a national audience and featured a Democrat talking about issues voters see in their everyday lives. There was no Marco Rubio moment of awkwardly guzzling water.

This will only put the governor in greater demand nationally and add more juice to the talk of her showing up on lists of possible Democratic vice presidential candidates. Michigan is one of the three most important states to this year's presidential election. Ms. Whitmer is going to become a familiar figure nationally. Even if she doesn't end up on the ticket, a prime speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention and regular appearances on national television programs are surely in the offing.

Five weeks ago, it was clear Ms. Whitmer would need to take a different approach in 2020 than 2019. She said as much as 2019 closed. That's what's happening.