Polls are built to find the “moveable middle.” But what if the voters most likely to shake up 2026 aren’t in the middle at all? They may be where the two extremes meet.

The national media calls Michigan’s U.S. Senate race a toss-up. But polls don’t measure votes. They measure who answers the phone, and the voters most likely to show up are the least likely to pick up.

The Pilgrims never mentioned Plymouth Rock. It became famous 121 years after they arrived, when one man's tearful story stopped a wharf and gave America a playbook for blocking development that we're still using today.

Amber Ginop's marketing career started in a hamburger costume at a minor league ballpark — and wound through Nike, an Alabama newsroom, and a coffee shop before landing her at the helm of HexArmor's brand. Her advice for anyone panicking about an unclear path: it almost never is one.

Before he was president of Catholic Central, Greg Deja got his first teaching job in a hotel lobby — no interview, no negotiation, just a placement. It's the start of a career arc that now includes a $20 million capital campaign and a ten-year promise reshaping who gets a Catholic education in Grand Rapids.

At 13, Tiffany Gunter learned there's no such thing as "that's not my job." Today, as CEO of Southeast Michigan's regional transit system, that lesson still runs the show.

Michigan's 2026 elections won't be decided by policy debates or debate performances. They'll be decided by which side generates more fear of the other. Chris Moyer breaks down the fear-vs-hate calculation driving the Senate race, the governor's race, and the fight for control of the state legislature.

Fifty million dollars in outside support couldn't buy what one candidate is giving away for free: being the same person on camera and off. Here's what the Michigan Senate primary reveals about authenticity, trust, and the end of image management.

Ali Anderson swore she'd never go into sales. Today she's CEO of Craft Co, the company behind Joseph Magnus and a growing roster of premium spirits brands, and her path there ran through a college dorm, a call center, and a decade behind a camera.

Before she was booking festivals and touring as Super Dre, Opnr co-founder Dre Wallace was 14 and driving a Gator through a Michigan blueberry farm — learning firsthand what it really takes to get a good thing to the people who enjoy it.

Before he was running social media for the Vice President of the United States, Josh Paciorek was a 20-something on a six-person campaign team, learning fast because he had no other choice.

As America marks its 250th anniversary, Chris Moyer argues the honest national story — aspiration, failure, and accountability — is more powerful than any simplified myth.

Ashley Diersch didn't follow a straight line to Chief Advancement Officer at Paws With A Cause — she followed her instincts, changed course when something didn't fit, and learned that listening isn't just a soft skill. It's a strategy.

Rosalynn Bliss didn't set out to lead — she just kept showing up, doing the work, and raising her hand. Here's what happened next.

Mike Duggan had the record, the money, and the endorsements. He still couldn't break out of the mid-twenties. His exit from the Michigan governor's race isn't a story about his campaign — it's a story about what negative partisanship does to serious independent candidates in a high-stakes election year. With Duggan out, the race consolidates around its natural structure. Here's what that structure actually looks like.

I watched Democrats and Republicans have real conversations — not the performative kind, not the “we agree to disagree” handshake variety, but actual, honest exchanges. Competitors sharing a drink and a real opinion. People who, back home, would never be caught dead agreeing with each other, nodding across a table at the same idea. I saw it more than once. I wasn’t imagining it.

The modern age of communication has shown that you don't have to be a big, multi-billion-dollar sports league to use social media to your advantage. What you do need is smart, well-informed social media teams with a finger on the pulse of who your audience is and what they want to see.

This year's theme is A Quest for Common Ground. The Chamber chose it as an acknowledgment that the solutions Michigan needs require people who disagree to work together. That is the right instinct. But the Chamber has also spent the last several months arguing that Michigan's economic house is on fire, that the state has fallen to 40th in per capita income, its lowest ranking ever, and that the window to act is closing.

When this bill is framed primarily as a defensive measure, as protection against a threat Michigan cannot otherwise meet, it reinforces a scarcity mindset that is already doing damage. The implicit message is that we are keeping them out because we cannot beat them. Treating China as an invincible competitor Michigan must simply survive is factually wrong and strategically damaging.