Question 1): The first of two debates between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her Republican challenger, Tudor Dixon, took place last Thursday, Oct. 13, in Grand Rapids on WOOD-TV. So, how did the incumbent fare? What did we expect to see and hear from the governor, anyway?
Answer 1): First, Whitmer spent as little time talking about her handling of COVID as possible. Paraphrasing her comments on the issue, she argued essentially that “We were all flying by the seat of our pants, and I did the best I could under unprecedented circumstances. I believe we saved lives, but I realize a lot of us were damaged by the pandemic, and I will continue to do everything I can to move all of us forward toward the bright and prosperous Michigan future that awaits us.” Beyond that, she talked about every single positive accomplishment in her record that she could. She contended that she had governed in a ‘bi-partisan’ fashion because she believes that pose (however untrue) will appeal to the broad center of the state’s electorate — the independents and ticket-splitters and moderate Republicans whose votes she feels should be hers because these voters seem to be rejecting her opponent’s ‘extreme’ views on a variety of issues. She also traded barbs with Dixon so much that the face-off often appeared to be a contest over who could fire the most zingers. And Whitmer avoided wearing the kind of dress she did in her 2019 State of the State message.
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Question 2): What were viewers expecting to see from Tudor Dixon in Thursday’s debate?
Answer 2): Whatever Tudor Dixon said in this ‘Do or Die’ first debate, and how she performed overall, was more critical to her chances of victory than anything the governor said. Most unbiased, objective observers feel she passed the test — in fact, that she outperformed Whitmer, in part because the bar was set so low for her. Most viewers didn’t even know who she was, and because her campaign is being outspent by Whitmer by upwards of 10-1, she hasn’t been able to get her image and campaign issues projected to the voting public. Dixon is behind in the polls — maybe way behind — but she also knows that Whitmer has barely been able to reach 50% approval in any survey match-up because there is such intense dislike of of the governor in many quarters. Dixon realized it would be a mistake for her to pound away at minor issues like LGBTQ rights and critical race theory and the ‘grooming’ of students in schools as she’s been doing recently in her public statements and ads. Dixon knew that people wanted to hear a positive presentation of what she would DO if she’s elected and why Whitmer, based on her record so far, can’t be expected to deliver on any of the promises the governor has been making. In other words, Dixon’s primary message was not only that Whitmer had been a hypocrite in a variety of ways and had lied about many aspects of her record but that: ‘Whitmer will fail; I, Tudor Dixon, will make it happen!’
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Question 3): The Democrats have been hitting Tudor Dixon with negative ads about her position on abortion for months. Does the continued use of these ads indicate they’ve been successful, or that there are still numerous voters who haven’t gotten the message?
Answer 3): It’s hard to believe that anyone who plans to vote Nov. 8 hasn’t gotten the message by this time. The Michigan electorate has never been bombarded with so many ads on a single issue in any gubernatorial campaign in half a century, virtually all of them launched by Whitmer and her acolytes targeting Tudor Dixon. The governor and her supporters, in the state and on a national level, believe these ads are working, steadily grinding Dixon into a pulp. It’s the biggest single issue the Democrats have going for them at this point. If Dixon and/or the Republicans had been spending anything on their counter-message that ‘Proposal 3 is too extreme,’ and so is Whitmer for supporting it, they might have been able to make this campaign interesting, but they haven’t so far. As a result, they’ve been getting shellacked.
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Question 4):. Why are the Democrats running campaign ads that attack GOP Congressional candidates over their positions on abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision sent the issue back to its pre-Roe status in the states ?
Answer 4): All the polling everywhere across the country, including Michigan, shows that the Dobbs decision was and is unpopular. Democrats are almost unanimously on the side of public opinion, Republicans aren’t. That means every Republican is vulnerable to attack on this issue, regardless of what office he or she holds or is seeking. Besides, Democrats can point out justifiably that if Republicans are elected to Congress, they won’t be content to simply let the states handle it — they’ll push for a national ban on abortion, much like U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham has already proposed. That puts every Republican candidate for Congress in the cross-hairs.
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The Latest polls show a 47%-47% dead-heat tie between Dixon and the Gretch. Apparently Dixon’s performance in the debate won her a lot of support.
The Free Press Poll shows Whitmer ahead by 11 points. The 538 collection of polls shows Whitmer ahead by 9.4 points. In any case, the poll that counts occurs three weeks from Tuesday.
Another provocative column from Bill Ballenger. The best political gift the Republicans gave to the Democrats was to overturn Roe v. Wade. Women, Registering to Vote in all-time high numbers, will drive this Election by voting for Prop.. 3.
Dixon was well-spoken but NOT substantive. She doesn’t know the issues and the “Drag queen” Ad is of NO effect-almost as useless as the Zombie Ad of Kevin Rinke.
Unfortunate that this race has not strongly focused on Economic Development, Jobs, Inflation and the Economy and Education in general. Significant increase in serious crimes.
Republicans have NOT won a STATEWIDE Election for Governor or Senate in 24 years-exception of Rick Snyder. Republicans will not win a Statewide Election unless we nominate a Moderate or Moderately-conservative candidate.
BOTH candidates need to Order “A DISTANT RUMBLE” and learn how to win campaigns. They simply need to go to lulu.com bookstore, type in title, hit enter, and ORDER…..Winners will read it!!
According to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, The V.P. made a trip to the Southern Border recently , not out of Administration concern for the massive Nation wide fentanyl drug emergency the “open border” has brought to the inner Cities and to Families across the Nation ,nor the suffering and death Migrants are facing along Their journey or the massive chaos that is a daily reality to be endured by the States and Citizens along the Border. According to the WSJ , Ms. Harris goal was as a fund raiser and as a means to capitalize on the issue of abortion. The Administration (Progressive Democrats) believe that the abortion rights issue will be the primary route to victory in Nov. Thus far it appears to be the only means to victory !Human Beings have little value ,apparently.
When I see Gretchen, I wanna start retchin’. Whitler banned Constitutional rights and buying sets for your vegetable garden, among a host of other violations. Everyone is supposed to forget this evil domination of our lives like it was nothing? Really? Really? Then, hubby tries to jump the line to get their yacht launched at the marina. That escapade got one or two lines on page three. Really? Remember when she said when running for governess something about struggles with insurance companies, when her dad was the chairman of BCBSM? Really? I’m so happy I wasn’t brainwashed at a university I could do back flips like John Belushi! Yippee!
This could be closer than predicted but so far it has been disappointing. Whitmer could be beat but she is no slouch in campaigning that’s why she started her campaign in early 2017 for the 2018 election. Dixon could have been a better candidate. The money for ads is not there. All the talk about “DeVos” money is annoying because as you stated Dixon is being outspent 10-1. For 2 women facing off for first time in Michigan history (3 if you count the libertarian) I thought this election would be more watched. The Republican primary and all the confusion with 10 original candidates probably didn’t help. Unfortunately I have to say that the entire Republican statewide ballot (Gov, SofS, AG) is lackluster and strange. I also wonder if the Libertarian candidates will siphon votes off any of them? What do you think of my points Bill? This is an odd election. Whitmer should be in deep trouble. And, Bill this is a way stretch but do you have any clue of what these 2 party’s will look like for candidates in 2026?