The Detroit News interviewed Barry Rabe and Craig Ruff about the decision by Governor Rick Snyder to endorse right-to-work legislation in Michigan.
The decision, Rabe said, could be a defining moment in Snyder's political career, potentially branding him as an unusually partisan political figure.
"This puts a pretty clear divisive line across the aisle," Rabe told The Detroit News. "It is one thing to talk about right to work in the state of Indiana. But when you say Michigan, in most parts of the U.S., that is synonymous with labor."
Although it is probably too soon to say how Snyder's position on right to work will effect a 2014 re-election bid should he run, Ruff pointed out that there is the risk of alienating former autoworkers.
"Michigan has a lot of retired autoworkers," Ruff told The Detroit News. "They are certainly a political force."
Rabe, Ruff speak with The Detroit News on right-to-work
December 8, 2012