Governor Gretchen Whitmer embarks on a reading tour to promote “True Gretch”

LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) – Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s book hit the shelves on Tuesday – she is currently on a nationwide sales tour. And for the first time, she is clearly commenting on a possible candidacy for president if Joe Biden drops out of the race.

If you want to find the governor today, you have to look in Seattle, California, Washington DC, Martha’s Vineyard, or at home in Traverse City, Chelsea or at your local bookstore, where she is promoting her first book, “True Gretch.”

For $26.99 from Simon & Schuster, the governor describes the survival lessons she learned in her personal life and in the shark-infested political waters of our state.

In the 159-page book, she makes it clear that the governorship has not gone to her head.

“I’m still the same person I was a year ago or 10 years ago,” Whitmer said in a 2019 interview.

Yet the same person has been talked about across the country as a possible successor to Biden should he drop out, and since the recent thorny debate, that speculation has skyrocketed.

So far, the governor has been cautious. Whitmer told a news agency: “I have no plans to run for president.”

This was not a complete denial, of course. But the Associated Press asked her if she would consider running if Biden dropped out.

She said “no” and called all the speculation a distraction from the state’s policies – her most decisive statement to date.

Back to the book. She reflects on her Covid battles with former President Donald Trump, with Republicans in the House who fought her tooth and nail, and what it was like to be the target of suspected kidnappers who wanted to kill her.

Yet despite everything, she steadfastly refused to respond to the political attacks. Her life lessons include not taking anything personally, trying to be nice to everyone and not running away from controversy. And of course, her biggest lesson? Never give up.

The governor attaches great importance to her family. She says she would die for her two daughters and still consults with her father to this day.

When her mother died of cancer, Whitmer cared for her, raised a new baby, and learned the political ropes in the Lansing legislature.

But she and her mother – who she still thinks about every day – had some problems in her childhood, she says in the book.

Tim Skubick: “Were you a rebellious teenager?”

“Yes. I was a pain in the ass,” Whitmer said in a 2019 interview. “I was strong-willed – I know this will shock you.”

Skubick: “’Strong-willed’ is a code word for …”

Whitmer: “Unruly.”

Skubick: “Stubborn?”

Whitmer: “Yes. I was a lot of fun to be around. I had a busy social life.”

It was so severe that it caused her to vomit on the principal’s shoes after getting drunk at a high school football game.

The governor has finally got her academic life at Michigan State University Law School in order and at the end of the day writes…

“I’m not better than anyone else, but I’m not worse either,” she said.

What you see is what you get.