By Zachary Gorchow
Executive Editor and Publisher
Posted: April 16, 2020 8:51 PM

Wednesday's remarkable vehicular protest of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home order that clogged the streets of downtown proved a few points.

One: It is a wide swath of President Donald Trump's base in the Republican Party that is revolting against the order and its shuttering of most aspects of the state's economy and social life, not just a few GOP operatives looking to get some shots in at Ms. Whitmer.

Two: The message those operatives and Republican elected officials had emphasized – that the problem was Ms. Whitmer didn't stick with federal guidance on essential professions and kept lawn and landscape services shuttered, that she had confused retailers and others on garden supplies and needlessly maintained the closure of golf courses – is not what drove Wednesday's protest. If Ms. Whitmer had just followed the direction of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and other states on those matters, that would solve the bulk of the problems, they said.

That's all swell, but conservative protesters have been swarming the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus denouncing Mr. DeWine too. Conservatives are pounding governors in other states with less restrictive orders than Michigan. If it wasn't golf, garden centers or lawn services, conservatives would have targeted something else in Ms. Whitmer's order. Protesters are planning to demonstrate Saturday outside the home of Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, and the Indiana order is much more flexible for business than Michigan's, allowing those deemed nonessential to sell goods via online and call-in ordering and then curbside pick-up.

That leads us to three: Mr. Trump's base wants the economy reopened. Now. Is this because that base felt that way all along or because for many weeks Mr. Trump downplayed the virus's threat? That's a chicken or the egg argument. But the lack of any real fear of the disease was palpable at Wednesday's protest, as seen by the hundreds who got out of their vehicles against instructions from organizers and congregated in close quarters on the Capitol lawn in direct conflict with warnings from public health experts who have urged people to prevent transmission of the disease by staying 6 feet apart. Masks were few and far between.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if Ms. Whitmer asked the state's Republican leadership if she allowed golf and boating and let garden centers and lawn services operate would they would be willing to stand side-by-side with her at a news conference and throw their support behind an amended order.

For now, Ms. Whitmer has the upper hand in arguing for a stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the virus. Virtually the entire medical and public health establishment in the state supports it as the best answer. Republicans have argued for a regional approach that loosens the order in areas with lower infection rates, and Ms. Whitmer has resisted. It's notable that a couple of conservative, outstate counties have among the highest per capita rates of infection (Hillsdale and Otsego).

That said, Ms. Whitmer in recent days has said she is consulting with the experts about a regional scenario. There are at least a dozen rural counties that have essentially held flat at under 10 cases for two weeks where such a scenario might be considered. That said, how much of those low case rates has to do with inadequate testing, which has been a serious problem? A couple rural counties like Barry and Cass had low case totals early last week but are now climbing to near 20 relatively quickly.

The weather also has been on Ms. Whitmer's side. This week's 30-degree temperatures and snow didn't exactly lend a jolt of urgency to those clamoring for golf, lawn service and gardening goods. My mother, an avid gardener, lives by the maxim not to plant anything in Michigan until Memorial Day unless you want to see your plantings killed off by a late frost though I know some are upset about wanting to get seeds planted now.

That said, once the temperatures climb into the 60s and 70s – and it's Michigan, who knows, that could happen any time now – it's going to get harder to make a strict stay-at-home order work. Parts of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore already were so crowded that the National Parks Service had to shutter them. And that's when it's freezing.

Further, as more and more sectors of the economy lay off employees or cut their pay, the panic about the need to return to work is going to intensify. Understandably. What should not be forgotten in this discussion though is the fear among health care workers risking their health and lives while treating those with the disease and the people who couldn't even be present at the death beds of loved ones when they died.

Ms. Whitmer has been resolute in defending having what appears the strictest order in the nation and has noted that Michigan has seen the third-most cases and the third-most deaths even though Michigan is 10th in population. Michigan's situation is more dire, so the response must be more severe is the argument, and that logic makes sense.

The new regional partnership announced Thursday among Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky (Kentucky?!), Ohio and Wisconsin puts some pressure on Ms. Whitmer to relax the order somewhat in May. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said Thursday he is preparing to reopen at least part of his state's economy on May 1, and other governors in the consortium have taken a less strict approach. The Democratic governors of Kentucky, Minnesota and Wisconsin are allowing far more commerce to take place though, again, those states have seen far fewer cases and deaths.

If Ms. Whitmer opts to essentially keep her order in place for another two weeks and the other six states loosen up, it will be tough to explain, given she has signed onto this regional collaboration.

That said, if Ms. Whitmer does loosen up the order and cases start surging again and threaten to jam the health care system, that will be tough to explain too.