I live outside of the Detroit Metro area, so Mike Duggan announcing his candidacy for Michigan governor probably hit me differently than for those of you who live there. I mean, I'm aware that Duggan is the longtime mayor of Detroit and that he has been very successful.
But the thing is, I don't think about Detroit very much. And I don't believe that most Michiganders out here in the hinterlands do either. (The Detroit Lions, sure. But not so much Detroit itself.)
This is different than it used to be. Back in the day, Detroit was pretty much synonymous with Michigan. The daily newspaper that everybody read and the nightly news that everybody watched kept everybody up to date on the goings on in Detroit — whether it was automaking news or political shenanigans or terrible crimes, we all basically were in the loop.
Now, partially because of Detroit's enormous population loss over the past decades, it is no longer the center of the Michigan universe. But also, Detroit simply isn't as notorious as it once was. Ironically, much due to Duggan himself, all the good news doesn't really make its way to where I live. Ask a West Michigander about the renovated Michigan Central Station or the nearly completed Gordie Howe Bridge, and you're likely to get a blank stare.
My point: Being mayor of Detroit doesn't quite have the political cache that it once did.
Now if Duggan had only been the one who got Detroit into bankruptcy instead of the getting them out of it, he might stand a better chance. Because, apparently, successfully bankrupting things is a great way to get yourself elected these days.
Editor's note: John Auchter is a freelance political cartoonist. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Public, its management, or its license holder, the University of Michigan.
