The Bosom of Abraham

IF Spencer Abraham needed an even clearer signal that his reelection to the Senate is in trouble, he got it at a GOP breakfast here in July. It’s not that the crowd of Republican activists received him poorly; they clapped politely when he reached the podium, and listened intently to several minutes of unmemorable remarks. It’s what happened next: Abraham introduced Michigan’s lieutenant governor, Dick Posthumus. The banquet hall burst with excitement. Men wearing red blazers in honor of the local cherry harvest jumped to their feet, set off like the fireworks that had lit up Grand Traverse Bay the night before. Minutes later, Gov. John Engler won a similar response.

Posthumus won’t appear on the ballot for another two years, and Engler’s future is term-limited and unclear. It’s Abraham whose job is on the line in a few months, and he’s perilously close to losing it. Will a Republican audience that won’t stand up for him today canvass neighborhoods for him when the cold comes in October?

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.

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IF Spencer Abraham needed an even clearer signal that his reelection to the Senate is in trouble, he got it at a GOP breakfast here in July. It’s not that the crowd of Republican activists received him poorly; they clapped politely when he reached the podium, and listened intently to several minutes of unmemorable remarks. It’s what happened next: Abraham introduced Michigan’s lieutenant governor, Dick Posthumus. The banquet hall burst with excitement. Men wearing red blazers in honor of the local cherry harvest jumped to their feet, set off like the fireworks that had lit up Grand Traverse Bay the night before. Minutes later, Gov. John Engler won a similar response.

Posthumus won’t appear on the ballot for another two years, and Engler’s future is term-limited and unclear. It’s Abraham whose job is on the line in a few months, and he’s perilously close to losing it. Will a Republican audience that won’t stand up for him today canvass neighborhoods for him when the cold comes in October?

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.