[Justabystander]

Originally Posted by Axxlrod

LOL at all the triggered people here...

You think Pence actually had any say in the logistics for this trip???

The Secret Service makes these decisions; not the protectee.

Did you read the article? President Ford and the first lady took a carriage ride, what don't you get about entitlement? Yes, if he was the least bit educated about the island, he would have known, especially being from the Midwest, although Indiana is not know for its cosmopolitan knowledge. This administration has no respect for the environment, history, custom, race or gender. Why start now, and why have a meeting on the island? He should have held it in Indianapolis which would have made more sense, instead of alienating conservative voters in a battleground state. Genius, but what do you expect from a guy who is simply known for nodding his head like a bobblehead in the background when his boss speaks, no matter how insane the statement is.

[leebeemi]

It is a different world today, and I understand the need for some extra precaution and protection. Eight vehicles worth? That feels excessive. The island is small, and by the time the last vehicle is pulling away, the first one will be at the destination. It's a LOT.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by skeddy

lol....look at all the triggered haters...fact is emergency vehicles drive on the Island whenever they need to..put in your mouthguards and go on with life. Pence is laughing at you...

Very seldom do emergency vehicles drive on the island. Plus, it's for "emergencies." Pence visiting a bunch of Republicans for a conference hardly even seems necessary, not less, an emergency. Although maybe they're really feeling the urgency now.

But it does feel like a slow news day story.

[ram2]

And those motorized passenger ferries do not seem to bother the "traditionalists". Why don't they use sailboats to ferry visitors to the UP and LP?

[scorpio516]

Do the ferries go onto land? Are they amphibious?

Cars are banned because they scared horses 120 years ago. Boats don't live in the same places as horses.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by DTWflyer

....and who cares......

A lot of people from Michigan care and they care a lot. Michigan is one of five states who are often going to be the deciding factor in presidential elections.


I find Pence's decision to be arrogant, self centered, insensitive and a bit of a slap in the face. Did he make the decision? I do not know, but he is responsible for it. Does that mean I would never vote for him? No, but it could be a factor. It also could influence whether I actively go out and support him and try to convince others to support him. I may prefer some of his policy concepts over the other guys regardless of what i think of him personally, but it does make it hard to actively go out of my way to try to get him elected. Frankly they are all pretty despicable people on both sides of the party line IMO. I did not know much about Pence as a person. All this does really is confirm he is yet another self-absorbed political dirt-bag just like all the others. It is pretty safe to assume that about any high level Washington DC/party figure. Pence just happened to confirm it with this blunder. We voters do not have a lot to go on. We do not get to meet these people and their stage persona tells us nothing about who they are, so a single incident like this can easily characterize the person since there is nothing else to go on. i knew nothing about Pence as a person before this, now the only thing I know about him is negative.

There are some people (probably a lot) who still think open presidential candidate is a decent person and the other is a despicable person and vote based on that rather than their policy or realistic likelihood of getting something done. I think there are quite a lot of such people.

This move could cost him a lot of votes in Michigan and plausibly could cost him the election in 5 or 9 years when he runs for President.

Mackinac Island is an important part of our Michigan culture. He insulted it. He may as well have tasted Vernors or Faygo and spat it out and said "this crap tastes terrible."

At least he didn't use Honda or Toyota vehicles in his motorcade (I hope).

Pence should have looked into where he was going and become aware of its nature. however politicians often fail to do that. sometime they do not even know where they are. i saw Bob Dole speak in San Diego California where he said "Bob Dole is very please to be here today in (Some city in another State)." A few seconds later a staffer ran up and whispered in his ear and he said 'Sorry, Dan Diego, bob Dole is happy to be here in San Diego" Letter his campaign said he had been campaigning hard and was very tired and he apologized. However the damage was done. It is hard to believe a candidate cares about you if they do not even know where they are.

Pence's blunder is similar. It says that he either intentionally offended Michigan's traditions, or he did not care enough to look into where he was going and what was acceptable there.

Either way, there are hundreds of thousands non-democrats in Michigan saying to themselves "What a jerk."

[topher5150]

I didn't lose any sleep over it

[saraUpNorth]

I'm from Northern Michigan and have read a lot about this "controversy" on neighborhood sites, etc. Nobody here has mentioned that cars were used when the movie "Somewhere in time" was filmed years ago..... are you just as disgusted that Hollywood thought it was appropriate to bring cars over to the Island for the filming? Wasn't this "elitist" and "egotistical" of Hollywood? What about semi's with supplies and generators that have been used in the past? The request for VP Pence was approved by those on the Island who issue these permits.... their island, their decision.

I didn't lose sleep over it, either.

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by snoopygirlmi

Disappointed, yes.

Not surprised though given the world that we live in.

As much as we want to think that people would be on their best behavior - I can see why Pence wouldn't want to risk an open-air vehicle (or carriage) in this case.

It seems like a reasonable security precaution. It's simply not the 1970's anymore and the era where we just trusted people to do the right thing and behave themselves.

Yes - I lament the loss of that world too, but when my kid goes to school and they have active shooter drills "in a good school district" and my kid comes home and tells me that there was a cop in the cafeteria while he's eating lunch...well, I'm not going to get too upset about what Mike Pence rides around in.

In the end, do we really want Mackinaw Island to be known forever as the place where Mike Pence, the Vice President under President "Orange-man" Trump, was assassinated? That's certainly not what I want outsiders to think of when they think of Mackinaw Island. Let him drive around in his car for a few hours and leave.

It’s an ISLAND, and a RURAL one. If there’s an easier place to secure that he or any dignitary has ever visited, I’d like to see it. FFS, it even has a fort on top.

[Coldjensens]

It was a gaffe. A gaffe or Bidenesque proportions. He needs to take a page out of Biden's playbook and say "Sorry, I messed up. I gaffe sometimes." (and then Biden adds "but it is better than lying" - which is funny since he is aa politician)./