Turtle Talk

From the Detroit Free Press:

The race for a single eight-year term on the Michigan Supreme Court finally began to live up to expectations in the closing weeks of the campaign 2008 election, as relative quiet gave way to a barrage of advertising and accusations.

On one side is Chief Justice Clifford Taylor, a Republican who has been on the court since his appointment by former governor John Engler in 1997. On the other, Wayne County Circuit Judge Diane Hathaway, whose surname is judicially familiar in southeast Michigan but was a second choice for Democrats when the party’s preferred nominee declined to run.

Behind both candidates are well-heeled special interests for whom influence on the Michigan Supreme Court is of great importance. Business is backing Taylor; attorneys, especially plaintiffs lawyers, and unions want Hathaway.

Since losing their majority on the court during the Engler era, Democrats have tried and failed repeatedly to regain control of the high court. Although no incumbent justice has lost an election since 1984, state party officials said early on that beating Taylor was their second highest priority behind carrying Michigan for Barack Obama this year.

But only recently has there been much evidence they meant it. With less than two weeks to go, the state party launched a TV ad campaign accusing Taylor of falling asleep in court. That touched off angry denials and denunciations from Taylor’s campaign and Republicans.

Hathaway, meanwhile, has been getting the business from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the GOP, which has been airing an ad accusing her of sentencing a jihadist-in-training to a slap on the wrist.

The scant public polling that has been done on the race found that few voters even knew the names of the candidates before the advertising blitz got underway.

Typically, a significant number of voters ignore the judicial races, which appear low on the ballot without party identification. Taylor will be identified as a Justice of the Supreme Court, usually a big advantage.

Also running is Ann Arbor attorney Robert Roddis, nominated by the Libertarian Party.