I don’t know what the laws are in other states, but in Michigan candidates and campaign material can’t be at closer than 100 feet from any entrance to a polling place. This includes clothing, hats, and buttons. That law is being challenged.

A federal judge has promised to rule within two days on whether Michigan’s ban on wearing campaign T-shirts and buttons inside polling places should be upheld.

U.S. District Judge Patrick Duggan heard oral arguments in the case on Monday. The lawsuit was brought this month by Council 25 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees against Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and state elections director Chris Thomas.

AFSCME attorney Herbert Sanders said the ban oppresses voters’ right to freedom of expression and abridges their right to vote free from intimidation.

“This is going to create a significant disruption in one of the largest elections ever in the history of the country,” he told the judge.

Sanders also called it a “pretext for discrimination,” arguing election officials will arbitrarily enforce the law, which he said has historically led to unequal treatment of minorities.

I’m not sure how not allowing any political T-shirts hurts freedom from intimidation. I think that allowing political t-shirts may threaten freedom from intimidation, not the other way around.

And I guess I’d have to see some evidence that minorities have been treated unfairly over this. Even if they have been, the answer is not to abolish the rule but to enforce it equally.

I recall a comment threat on with one-time MO reader MarinesGirl who lived in the Detroit area and was telling how she was dressing her son up in all sorts of John Kerry stuff to go down and hang out at the polling station on election day, 2004. I emailed her to remind her not to get closer than 100 feet lest they get in trouble. She responded that it was sweet of me to worry, but they had no problem hanging out there for hours talking with people in line about Kerry and how much George Bush sucked and telling jokes and stuff inside the polling station and that no one cared or minded.

Detroit.

Following up an earlier post about a news story that Amtrak routes from Michigan to Chicago had seen significant jumps in paying customers.

I saw the train again this morning and there appeared to be less than 10 passengers aboard the three cars.

As I noted in the earlier post, it’s likely that more riders get on a bit closer to Chicago than where I see it (near Grand Rapids) but three passenger cars and a second engine is a lot of train to move from Grand Rapids to St. Joseph for a dozen people.

McCain pulling out of Michigan

Republican presidential candidate John McCain is giving up on winning Michigan.

Republican officials with knowledge of the strategy say the GOP candidate is shifting resources to other states. Democrat John Kerry won here in 2004, but McCain had tried to make it a target to switch parties this year amid economic problems in the state.

I’m not surprised that Michigan is leaning hard to the Left, but I am a bit surprised how much and how early. A lot of folks have been telling me that they expected Michigan to go for McCain, but I’ve been totally unconvinced.

For what it’s worth, even here in relatively conservative west Michigan, I think Obama bumper stickers and lawn signs outnumber McCain bumper stickers and lawn signs about 5-1 (or more). I was in the state capital of Lansing last weekend, near the middle of the state, and the ratio was probably 10-1. I know that doesn’t mean a whole lot, but it certainly doesn’t look like a state on the verge of shifting to the Red.

Seems that the McCain campaign agrees.

Murdoc went down to the Gerald R Ford museum in Grand Rapids this morning to participate in the all-day Scout Salute. My son (a Boy Scout) and my daughter (a Keeper) joined me.

As usual, no more posts on MO today.

All aboard! Amtrak ridership in GR way up

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The high cost of gas is pushing many travelers between Michigan and Chicago to passenger trains.

The Detroit News reports that the numbers of riders on several Amtrak train routes had risen between October and July.

Amtrak officials tell the newspaper that the number of people riding Pontiac-Detroit-Ann Arbor-Jackson-Chicago lines was up 5.9 percent over that period. The Port Huron-East Lansing-Chicago line has seen a 6.5 percent jump in riders, while the Grand Rapids-St. Joseph-Chicago line was up 7.2 percent.

Now, if Murdoc is running a few minutes late for work in the morning, he sees the Grand Rapids-St. Joe-Chicago train. As he runs late at least once a week (slacker) he often waI’ve been watching to see it the passenger load is up.

It might be up 7.2 percent like the article says, but it’s probably something like up to 32 passengers per day from 30. Seriously. The train usually has three cars (and often a second engine) and each car usually appears to be nearly totally empty. Now, Murdoc could be wrong and the actual numbers may be closer to up to 64 passengers per day from 60, but I’d be surprised.

Another thing to consider is that it’s likely more people get on the train for Chicago at St. Joseph than get off at St. Joseph from Grand Rapids, so maybe the number of passengers riding into the Windy City is 100 or more. Again, I’m completely guessing based off of what I see where the tracks cross my road to work, so maybe I’m way off base.

Are Amtrak ridership numbers publicly available?

The GR to Chicago ride is $47 and takes 3:55. By road, this is a 177 mile trip and Google Maps says it should take 2:55. At $4 a gallon, that works out to about $23 in gas, but there’s no way you make that trip in three hours on the highway, at least not at that time of day.

Regardless, I’d be shocked if the amount of energy it takes to move an engine and three cars (plus quite often a second engine) to Chicago is in any way good for anyone.

UPDATE: Missed this bit:

The increases would have been greater if tickets, especially for weekend trips, were not selling out.

Again, I’m sure that all three cars look to be 90% empty during the week. Something isn’t making sense.

Freedom (LCS 1) Begins Builder’s Sea Trials

Freedom (LCS 1), put to sea for the first time, marking the beginning of Builder’s Sea Trials for the first-in-class coastal surface combatant.

The agile 378-foot Freedom, designed and built by a Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT]-led industry team, is conducting Builder’s Sea Trials in Lake Michigan. The trials - which are a coordinated effort between the U.S. Navy and the Lockheed Martin team - will include operational testing of the vessel’s propulsion, communications, navigation and mission systems, as well as all related support systems.