MI-Sen: Pete Hoekstra Won’t Run

I can’t say I’m terribly surprised:

Former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra said today he won’t challenge Sen. Debbie Stabenow next year for her U.S. Senate seat.

“After serious consideration and many discussions with friends and supporters, Diane and I have made the decision that I will not be a candidate for the United States Senate in 2012,” Hoekstra said in a morning email to supporters. “We agreed that it was not in the best interest of our family at this time to enter the race.”

I guess this congressman from Michigan’s finally gonna go back home and build that turtle fence. In his honor, I have to post it one final time:

The Republicans don’t have a lot of good potential candidates waiting in the wings (not that Hoekstra was particularly great shakes). Of course, at this time last year, we were taking a lot of comfort in facts like that – but then absolute nobodies like Ron Johnson in Wisconsin went on to post wins. So while I don’t expect 2012 to wind up like 2010, recent events definitely inspire me to be more cautious when writing off Republican chances due to ostensibly poor benches. After all, at this point in 2009, I didn’t expect 2010 to wind up like 2010, either.

30 thoughts on “MI-Sen: Pete Hoekstra Won’t Run”

  1. It’s not like Debbie Stabenow is making the same mistakes as Russ Feingold. In addition, 2012 will be a Presidential year. And absent any concrete evidence of another “Great Red Tide” hitting Michigan next year, I’m worrying less about this race.

  3. Feingold lost by about five points. Had he taken the race a little more seriously from the beginning, perhaps he would have won, and we wouldn;’t be subjected to Ron Johnson’s Op/Eds in The Wall Street Journal about how his daughter would be dead if she lived anywhere else and how American medicine is so great because of techniques that were invented in France, of all places.  

  5. Think Tommy Thompson if he ran vs. Feingold. I suspect the GOP is best off here with an unknown self-funder who’s not gaffe-prone. So long as Obama carries this, Stabenow should win, too, though, unlike most Senate Democratic candidates, I don’t think she really overperforms him much at all.

  6. As I posted here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pos…

    Pete Hoekstra’s Turtle Fence

    cost: 3

    Artifact

    Pete Hoekstra’s Turtle Fence comes into play with three foot counters.

    Pete Hoekstra’s Turtle Fence is X feet high, where X is the number of foot counters on Pete Hoekstra’s Turtle Fence.

    You and all spells and permanents you control have protection from turtles.

    No turtles may become doctors.

    “Those turtles that were climbing turtles couldn’t get over the turtle fence.” “Why?” “It was turtle-proof.” “How?” “It was three feet high.”

  7. Your move, Terri Lynn Land.  In all seriousness, she did say a few weeks back she’d defer to Hoekstra for the time being.  At this moment, she’s the only viable opponent showing interest.

    This makes me feel better.  I guess from the outside looking in, if you don’t really know Hoekstra, he seems kind of quirky.  But, I’ll tell you, even as a liberal Democrat, even I have to admit the guy is likable and comes across as sane even if he’s ideas/policies aren’t particularly sane.

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