State Republicans are trying their best to paint Governor Whitmer as a big-city-loving lawmaker who despises those of us who live in rural areas.

The playbook has been used for years by Republicans, including the 2016 election.

But as Rick Haglund writes in Michigan Advance, it’s kind of rich for Michigan Republicans to play this card considering how their leadership led to Michigan’s crumbling infrastructure:

But Republicans, who have totally controlled state government for the past eight years, share a lot of blame for the condition of our transportation infrastructure.

Lawmakers boosted the gas tax by 7.3 cents a gallon in 2015 and increased vehicle registration fees, moves that merely slowed the rate of road deterioration. They also have failed to enact the kind of budget efficiencies they tout to free up adequate road funding.

And what has the Republican-controlled state government done to aid rural Michigan? Certainly not enough, as economic conditions there have mostly deteriorated over the past decade.

As I talked about on this week’s LOL podcast, conservatives have no solutions. Their “leadership” hurt Michigan’s infrastructure, education, environment, and water.

Whitmer’s challenging all of us on how much we’re willing to go to right the wrongs Republicans caused.

But Republicans are hoping you’ll forget all about how we got here.