W.'s Man in Michigan - Michigan governor and George W. Bush supporter John Engler

National Review, Feb 21, 2000 by John J. Miller

ON January 13, Michigan governor John Engler rose early in Lansing and caught a private jet to Washington, D.C. His State of the State speech was less than a week away, and he spent part of the day holed up in an office working on it. But the American Enterprise Institute had invited him to a forum on "How Would George W. Bush Govern?" That was worth a hassle.

The organizers knew they had a prize panelist in Engler. He's mentioned as a possible cabinet secretary, White House chief of staff-and maybe even vice president. When a moderator asked Engler how much a President Bush would rely on Republican governors for policy advice, Engler, who has had weight problems his whole life, replied: "Well, I would suggest heavily-that he would rely on heavy governors."

It was a witty remark, but perhaps a meaningful one too. Although neither Engler nor any of his staff has talked about jobs in a Bush administration-"I can honestly say we've never had that discussion," says a top aide-it's impossible to suppress the speculation. Four years ago, Engler was short-listed by Bob Dole for the GOP's vice-presidential slot. Last year, the Bush campaign registered "bushengler.com" as a web domain name. It's easy to see why. As a longtime Bush loyalist-backing the father in 1980, doing so again in 1988, and endorsing the son early in the current cycle-Engler is a known commodity in Austin. As a tax-cutting Republican governor from a labor-union state in the Midwest, he brings experience to the ticket and helps deliver contested electoral votes. And as a pro-life Catholic conservative, he simultaneously satisfies the party base and reaches out to Reagan Democrats.

Engler, now 51, got his start in politics in 1970, when the 22-year-old beat an incumbent Republican for a seat in the Michigan legislature. He was generally considered a rural conservative, and even wound up with Russell Kirk as a constituent and mentor. Kirk, a philosopher and one of the most important conservatives of the century, adored Engler; the last book the older man ever inscribed was made out to the governor. "Russell used to say that John has an ability to reform with a disposition to preserve," recalls Kirk's widow, Annette.

But the governor didn't act like a conservative at all times. In 1980, he supported Howard Baker in the GOP presidential primaries. When Baker bowed out, Engler switched to George Bush-and voted for him on the day Ronald Reagan clinched the nomination. He had more influence on local races, such as when he helped organize the 1983 recall elections of two taxhiking state senators, both Democrats. Their defeats catapulted him to the post of state-senate majority leader.

In 1990, he challenged Gov. James Blanchard and, running a crack campaign, beat him in an upset. Democrats still complain that lousy weather on Election Day depressed their turnout.

Engler is an unlikely success in the era of blow-dried politics. He's more a cloakroom arm-twister than a telegenic bully-pulpit man. In Lansing, he's known as a bruiser. "Win or lose, he will always take a pound of flesh from you," says one Michigan Republican. Yet there's very little turnover on his staff, and he can be strikingly loyal. When his chief of staff's mother died in 1991, the governor had been scheduled to throw out the first pitch at Tiger Stadium on Opening Day; Engler canceled the appearance and went to the funeral instead.

A double chin and Humpty Dumpty physique are liabilities in the television age-and especially so for Engler, thanks to a story that first surfaced four years ago. In 1969, during the Vietnam War, Engler took an Army physical but failed it because he was overweight. He flunked again three months later for the same reason. Oh, well, some people are short, others are heavy. Except that Engler was only two pounds over the limit- each time. "That's a bag of sliders [small, greasy hamburgers] and two Slurpees," Detroit News columnist Pete Waldmeir has written. It can be argued that, if Engler had really wanted to serve, he would have shed the 32 ounces over three months. The story has never amounted to much, except embarrassment. But who's to say this isn't what kept him off the Dole ticket?

If that old tale prevents Engler from joining a Bush ticket this summer, it would be a shame. His record through nine years is impressive: 26 tax cuts, saving the public some $11 billion; fewer state employees; and a plummeting abortion rate. Engler has also reshaped the state judiciary: Michigan may have the most conservative state supreme court in the nation. When the Cato Institute released its biennial report card on governors two years ago, it declared that "there is almost nothing not to admire" about Engler's work.

He's no compassionate conservative, either. In one of his first acts as governor, Engler tossed 80,000 able-bodied adults off the dole. The media savaged him daily. A tent city dubbed "Englerville" sprouted on the lawn of the capitol. Left-wing activists tried to blame several wintertime deaths on the new policy. Engler's approval rating sank to about 30 percent, making him look like a one-termer. The state teachers' union distributed a nasty bumper sticker: "John Engler has no kids and he hates yours."