Congressman Gary Peters and former Republican Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land seems to be teteering on the brink of a Sarah Palin/John McCain presidential campaign style. That’s a desigation supporters and friends of Land seriously take issue with even though their candidate has been struggling to articulate the issues.
All you have to do is to look back at the performance of both candidates last week at the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, during which the candidates spoke about their vision. Many had expected a debate. Peters wanted a debate but Land’s camp did not.
So what did we have?
An informercial session during which each of the candidates spoke alone on stage before the other took the mike to speak.
Congressman Peters came out strong with a command of the issues and the ability to tackle them head on. In another world, it would seem as if Peters would be the favorite of the business class because he was able to connect the issues to Michigan’s economy.
On the other hand, Land struggled to define herself during her informercial session. It was painful watching a U.S. Senate candidate who expects to represent Michigan in Washington struggle to articulate what she is fighting for.
Even her own supporters among the rank and file of the Republican Party were very uncomfortable watching her speak. Some of them quietly told me on the island that she was not ready for prime time.
Watching her performance brought an instant flashback to the Sarah Palin moment, another GOP candidate who mounted the national stage, seeking to be the next vice president of the United States with little or no experience or preparation. Or perhaps it was just a matter of plain incompetence.
I know some in the punditry class are willing to give Land a pass, and others have said that comparing her to Palin is a comparative analysis that doesn’t hold water.
Then what do you describe her performance as?
This is not a city council race, or a battle to be the next township manager. This is the U.S. Senate, the most powerful legislative chamber in the world.
If her performance on Mackinac Island is all that she has to prove her worthy to become a U.S. senator, then it is troubling to watch what the Republican Party is willing to settle for. Michiganders are not being served from what we saw on the island.
We saw the same things happen with Palin. The GOP and conservative media tried to find all kinds of excuses to justify her incompetence and ineptitude, only for us to find out later that McCain’s own camp was divided over the Palin selection as vice presidential candidate.
Palin was governor of Alaska and Land was Michigan Secretary of State. They both held significant political offices but still the merits that Palin brought to the run for a national office was insuffiicient. And her title as former governor could not commensurate for her woeful lack of understanding the depth of issues that the nation was confronting. She could barely differentiate or tell the media what newspapers she read or kept up to date with. It was pitiful to watch a candidate so inadequate elevated to the level of a VP candidate.
Now Land’s primary task to prove to Michigan that she is not Palin and that she has more political timber than the former Alaskan governor who claimed she could see Russia from her backyard.
It is too late now for the GOP establishment to withdraw from Land. So the only logical choice is to either defend the indefensible or coach her to do a better job.
To do a better job, Land must be willing to engage in debates and welcome this senate race as a real battle of ideas. And the only way to show the clear contrast between Land and Peters is for the two of them to debate the issues, and not speak from clearly scripted messages as we heard on Mackinac Island.
The U.S. Senate race is a higher threshold and we expect more from the candidates. It is one step away from the presidency.
Land should demonstrate that she has a firm grasp of the issues and can boldly spell them out in public.
Peters told me he wants as many debates as possible. Land wouldn’t agree to the number of debates her opponent wants, but we need to at least have three serious debates before the election.
I don’t expect Land, like Palin, to read from the palm of her hand when debating or speaking at a town hall since her supporters say she is far more competent than Palin.
I don’t expect her to memorize the answers and get stuck in the middle of a debate trying to respond to questions.
I expect that she will treat this race like another important national race by coming out boldly and telling us what is at stake, and the issues she is fighting for beyond the television commercials that both candidates have.
Michiganders deserve better, and Land must prove to us that she is not the Sarah Palin of this political election in Michigan.
I don’t doubt her abilities, but I doubt her performance on Mackinac Island. Show us something different and better.
Bankole Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle. Email bthompson@michronicle.com.
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