RICK SNYDER COULD KEEP GEORGE PATAKI OUT OF LAST PLACE IN THE GOP PRIMARIES

I really don't understand this:

Michigan governor Rick Snyder may be the newest GOP candidate for the White House.

Snyder mingled with donors at a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) in Las Vegas on Friday and told at least one attendee that he was a candidate.

On Saturday morning, the former Minnesota senator Norm Coleman told reporters: “I met with Rick Snyder yesterday. He’s running. He’s running.”

In a talk with the RJC board, Snyder himself was not as explicit. Ari Fleischer, a board member and former spokesman for President George W Bush, told the Guardian: “[He] didn’t say to the board that he was running. He made a real strong presentation about his results and successes in Michigan.” ...

So Snyder may be running and may not be. But why would he run? I mean, sure, he's done a couple of things that could appeal to GOP primary voters:

In office, Snyder has pushed legislation to put Detroit under emergency bankruptcy management and signed a controversial “right to work” bill that greatly restricted the ability of unions in Michigan to collect dues from members.

But he's done so many things that would infuriate the typical primary voter.

* He not only agreed to the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, he boasted about doing so during his reelection campaign in 2014.

* His state didn't set up a pure state Obamacare exchange, but the exchange in Michigan is a federal-state partnership, and if the Supreme Court gets rid of it, he's said he would seek a state exchange.

* In 2012, he vetoed a voter ID law.

* He supports immigration reform, and said so at an immigration summit with Mike Bloomberg.

* His outreach to his state's Muslim community gets right-wing media reactions like this:

Michigan’s liberal Democrat, er ... liberal Republican In Name Only (RINO) Governor Rick Snyder wants more Muslim aliens -- he specified “refugees” -- to come to Michigan. He’s made Muslim immigration the centerpiece of his Michigan economic policy. Just what we need.

Yesterday, he told Hezbollah- and HAMAS-supporting Muslims at the tax-funded, Muslim-dominated Arab American National Museum, that their community is a “role model” for Michigan, and that he wants them to help him bring more immigrants -- he cited “refugees from the Middle East who are struggling” and whom he wants to attract and help (with more government aid) -- to Michigan. Oh, and -- bonus! -- he vowed to hire more Arab Muslims on his staff.

And this:

Republican Governor of Michigan Rick Snyder will be giving the opening remarks for the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) conference on Friday, August 29. ISNA has Muslim Brotherhood origins and a lineup of Islamist speakers. Former President Carter is the keynote speaker.

What is he thinking? Is being a twelfth- or thirteenth-place finisher in the GOP presidential primaries really a useful career move for him? Because, yes, there might be voters in these primaries who don't think it's necessary to meet all the litmus tests -- but they're going to vote for Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio, or perhaps Chris Christie or Lindsey Graham. Or they're going to vote for someone who meets the litmus tests and is also a right-to-work-loving Midwestern governor, like Scott Walker.

Snyder? Toast. I don't get why he's doing this.