Sep 9, 2010

The Chief Outsourcer continues to chicken out on debates


Somebody is going to have to follow Rick “Chief Executive Outsourcer” Snyder around to his staged townhall meetings with friendly audiences in a chicken suit shame him into a debate with Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee Virg Bernero.

It has been more than a month since Bernero issued a challenge to debate, and Synder has come up with excuse after excuse to not do it. Snyder has a history of being afraid to debate. He even ducked the debates with the Republican nominees. The last and only debate he took part in was a debate sponsored by the Michigan GOP on April 21 at Michigan State University broadcast by Lansing TV station WLNS. He did so badly in the debate that he went back to his staged townhall meetings.

He did a friendly interview yesterday on classic rock station WHMI in Howell with the “morning crew,” and his new excuse for ducking the debates is that Bernero wants too many debates. Bernero formally issued a challenge last month to hold eight debates before the November 2 election, but the Lansing Mayor has accepted three. But Snyder lied to the hosts and said eight is too many.

Fine, then do the three that Bernero has already agreed to. The simple truth is the only way Snyder will debate is if the media and the public pressure him to do so.

Snyder has paid millions to cultivate this image as a successful businessman and job creator, and this is simply not true. Snyder spent $7.6 million on 30-second TV spots to win his party's gubernatorial primary, $6.1 million of which came from his own deep pockets. A real debate in front of a neutral audience will tarnish that expensive, bought and paid for image and revel him to be the empty suit he really is.

He also claims to be a job creator, but that is a lie, unless you count jobs created in China. He shipped 20,000 American jobs to China and other parts of Asia when he was head of Gateway. A report earlier this month by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) shows that the more CEOs cut jobs, the more money they made, and Snyder earned millions doing so. He cashed in on 355,000 stock options worth $23.7 million at a time that executives at the company admitted they misrepresented the company’s financial outlook. He took that money to buy the governorship of Michigan.

Republicans seem to be taking the example of the chief outsourcer at the top of the ticket and ducking debates.

Democratic Secretary of State nominee and Wayne State University law Professor Jocelyn Benson challenged her opponent to three debates last month, and, like the empty suit at the top of the ticket, the Republican has been silent. That’s a little strange, considering the Republican is a “career politician” teabggers claim they hate, and Benson has never ran for elective office before.

The only people who have agreed to debate are the Attorney General candidates. Democratic nominee and Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton will take part in a debate moderated by Off the Record host Tim Skubick that will air on Sept. 24. The taping will take place this weekend at the studios of PBS station WKAR TV in East Lansing.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

As long as he stays as far ahead in the polls as he is, he has little reason to debate. As you said, Snyder is a poor debater and Bernero loves a fight.

Remember that John Engler in 1998 refused to debate Geoffrey Fieger for similar reasons, including the fact he didn't need to. He trounced him anyway.

Unless the polls show Synder's lead tightening, I doubt he will ever agree to a debate. From his perspective, that's the best strategy.

Communications guru said...

Strangely enough, I actually agree with you, but that doesn’t make it right. He even ducked the debates with members of his own party. We know nothing about this guy, his plan or his positions, other than he outsourced 20,000 jobs and has millions to spend to con people. I guess fooling the people is a great strategy.

Motor City Liberal Returns said...

He's only ahead because he has ran a vague campaign with a lot of fluff, I believe that's why he hasn't took part in debates and why he's avoiding debating with Bernero because he has to put the meat on the table not the empty rhetoric he's spouting off.

Once people realize he has no plans or the plans he has sound awful similar to Republican plans of the past i.e.deregulation and tax cuts for the wealthy in the state people will sour on him quick.