Clark Durant's Bid for the Senate

Long time Republican activist and attorney from Grosse Pointe Farms, Clark Durant, will formally announce his candidacy for the US Senate this morning from a poor eastside Detroit neighborhood. He has already filed the paperwork for his run in the GOP Primary, having done so back in August 2011.

No one can doubt his credentials. He worked in the Reagan Administration and has been one of the movers and shakers in the Charter Schools arena in Michigan. He has worked hard for Cornerstone Schools in the Detroit area. He also has served on the Michigan Board of Education; indeed education seems his strongest calling card. His community service record is admirable.

But can he win the GOP Primary, let alone a statewide election? He has virtually no name recognition in outstate areas. He lost his bids for the GOP nomination for the Senate in 1990, losing in the primary as it were. This almost has the makings of someone who hasn't quite made it big in politics staging a final effort for such glory while there's still time.

That's not a bad thing, really, but time doesn't seem on Mr. Durant's side. Although he has some impressive supporters, among them Betsy DeVos, former Senator Spencer Abraham, and auto executive Bob Lutz, can that translate into victory when the GOP party mechanisms appear entrenched for Pete Hoekstra?

No one questions Durant's conservative credentials. It is even speculated that he should draw support from Tea Party types. Yet his race seems decidedly uphill. As always with elections, time will tell, and the final ballot is all that matters. We shall see.