Analysis
This article is announcing the upcoming debates between gubernatorial candidates Dick DeVos and Jennifer Granholm. The article cites a pollster with EPIC/MRA and Craig Ruff with Public Sector Consultants in Lansing. Do the comments provided by both these sources assist voters in making a more informed decision on the 2 candidates participating in the debates? Former gubernatorial candidate Dick Posthumus is also cited and says that he think Granholm can be beat. Does this constitute bias, since no one from the Democratic Party was cited? Why were the other gubernatorial candidates not included in the debates and why did the Press article not raise that question?
Article Text
When Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Republican challenger Dick DeVos step before the cameras for the first of three debates Monday, one thing is certain: The stakes will be high — especially for DeVos.
DeVos’ face is all over television in commercials he has been running since February. But the just-announced debates will mark the first chance many voters will have to see DeVos outside the packaged format of Madison Avenue.
“This is a very big event for Dick DeVos,” said Ed Sarpolus of the Lansing polling firm EPIC/MRA. “He has to show he’s more than his generic statements. Who is he? What does he stand for?”
The race between Granholm and DeVos remains close. The debates will be an opportunity for both candidates to offer a phrase, an idea, a gesture that can turn the tide.
“Because of the tightness of this race, it strikes me it’s probably the most important gubernatorial debate I’ve borne witness to,” said Craig Ruff, of Public Sector Consultants in Lansing.
Michigan voters may remember John Engler in 1990 waving a nickel and insisting that’s all voters would get per week in property tax relief proposed by then-Gov. James Blanchard. Or former Secretary of State Richard Austin, then 81, appearing confused and misstating his own position on abortion during a 1994 debate against challenger Candice Miller. Engler and Miller won their elections after being down in the polls.
Although debates draw small audiences, defining moments such as Engler’s nickel can have a dramatic impact because of news stories that follow.
“How many people view or listen to a gubernatorial debate is to some extent less impactful than the day-after coverage,” Ruff said.
Incumbents such as Granholm typically don’t want to debate, Ruff said. Just putting a challenger on the same stage bestows a certain importance on them.
“Incumbents would dodge these debates if they didn’t come under intense attacks from the media,” Ruff added. He pointed to U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, who is ahead in the polls against Republican challenger Mike Bouchard, but who is thus far refusing to debate him, aside from an untelevised event at the Detroit Economic Club.
Dick Posthumus ran against Granholm four years ago and debated her at WOOD-TV. She is a “good communicator” and “very smooth,” Posthumus said.
But Posthumus, now president of local business Compatico Inc., and an adviser to DeVos, thinks Granholm can be beaten.
“If he sticks to the facts and sticks to the issues, Dick will have a decent chance,” Posthumus said.
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