We already had a glimpse of how Rick “Chief Executive Outsourcer” Snyder will run state government if he is elected with the disaster that was the Michigan Republican State Convention, and now how he is handling debate negotiations is another glimpse.
Subscription only Gongewer is reporting that he broke off negotiations on Friday, and it appears there will be no gubernatorial debates. It appear the only question is was this another one of Snyder’s attempts to duck debates like he has since the Republican primary, or another example of how he thinks he can dictate to people and not negotiate.
On Friday Snyder's debate negotiator sent a final proposal to the campaign of Democratic Gubernatorial nominee Virg Bernero to be accepted by 4 p.m. That “proposal” called for three televised debates, “one live September 19 or 24 on Michigan Public Television, one live October 1 in northern Michigan to be broadcast on the state's CBS affiliates and a third debate at the Detroit Economic Club that would be rebroadcast on tape delay that evening on the state's NBC affiliates.” Granted, he wants to limit the amount of people who want to see it because he doesn’t want voters to see how little he knows about state government and that he has no plan for Michigan, but the real problem was that he, and only he, tried to pick the journalists who would moderate the debate.
The Bernero campaign, who already accepted three debates last month and wants more, made a counter offer right before the deadline. He wanted the Detroit Economic Club debate broadcast live in the evening and it wanted to negotiate the moderators of the debates. That seems pretty reasonable; simply a compromise on who will moderate the debate instead of allowing the outsourcer to pick friendly, Republican panelists and allowing more people to see the debates sounds pretty reasonable.
Not to the CEO, and it gave him the excuse he was looking for to chicken out.
“We consider Snyder's approach to be in bad faith and a deliberate attempt to completely kill the debates," said Mark Fox, the Bernero campaign's debate negotiator, in Gongwer. "It seems more than obvious that Snyder, understandably wants to severely limit the audience, handpick the panelists, and schedule these events as far in advance of the election as possible.”
If the chief outsourcer thinks he can dictate to the Legislature what he wants, and if he doesn’t get what he wants then he takes his ball and goes home then he knows less about state government than I thought. You can’t fire an independent branch of government like you can employees in a private company simply because they refuse to carry out your plan. You have to negotiate with them; something the outsourcer appear incapable of doing.
Or is this just another way for the CEO to chicken out of the debates so Michigan voters will not get the opportunity to learn what he is really like.
6 comments:
I like how you describe the first three debates as Bernero already agreeing to those three debates. Whom did he agree with? Snyder hadn't agreed to them. So who did Bernero agree with?
When looking at debates, one must ask some questions. What's the benefit? From my point of view, the benefit would be watching Bernero lose his temper, go off on some tangent and come out looking like the fool he is. For you, the benefit would be, if I'm reading your stuff right, that Snyder wouldn't perform well and that woudl make Bernero look better and possibly move his numbers back within striking distance.
The purpose of the debates is for the candidates to lay out their positions, and let the people decide if they want to choose one or the other.
But what is the benefit for the candidates? Bernero is already 23 points behind. He has nothing to lose. If he comes off looking like the fool that he is, his numbers will stay the same or fall further. If he performs well, he could make up some ground.
For Snyder, the benefit of the debates is...well, there is no benefit. He doesn't need the debate. He's beating the snot out of Bernero already. If he wins by 20 points, 15 points, or 1 point, he's still won. If he's not a good debater, then there is no upside to it.
You claim that Snyder is holding this up to get the favorable moderators he wants. Yet, Bernero, told this was Snyders final offer with a time limit, had to push just one more time to try to get his moderators chosen. I'm quite certain that Bernero is not holding out to get unfriendly moderators. So he too is balking at the moderators and trying to get his own favorable moderators.
If you really believe that Snyder thinks he can fire the legislature, then you're a bigger fool than I give you credit for.
There is no benefit for a debate to take place. You're not going to change your mind on your choice for Governor. There is no benefit for me to see a debate because I'm not going to change my mind on the governor.
So, all you're looking for, is a "gotcha" moment and all I'm looking for with him not having the debates is to have my "gotcha" moment now and into the future as long as there are no debates. Whichever way it goes, one thing we should each be watching for is to be careful what we wish for.
That is correct, anonymous coward; Mayor Bernero has already accepted three debates. Like I said, he accepted them, but Bernero is not going to allow the wimp to dictate terms.
“What's the benefit?” Voters get to see you in action in front of a non-friendly audience. They get to see your positions stand up to a little scrutiny. I agree there is no benefit to the wimp having the debates because he has no plan and knows nothing about state government. That is exactly why he ducked the debates against his Republican opponents and why he is ducking Bernero now. The first time people find out what the wimp is really about, it’s all over for him, and he has spent a lot of money making sure that they don’t really know him.
God forbid voters should find out something out about the outsourcer instead of the false image his millions have paid for with 30-second TV ads. If you think your fantasy about Benero is true, then tell the wimp to do what every other non-incumbent gubernatorial candidate has done and debate.
My claim and the facts are that either Snyder is holding up the debates because he is afraid people will see how unqualified he really is by dictating terms, or he really believes he can get away with just telling people what they have to do and they have to do it. If the worst happens and the outsourcer is elected, he will have a rude awaking the first time he has to deal with the Legislature or the employee unions.
Why does Bernero have to accept the wimp’s details just because he places an arbitrary time limit on it? That just makes no sense. No, Bernero is simply asking for some input on who the moderators will be. Why does the wimp get to choose? Bernero is simply trying to get fair moderators acceptable to both sides.
I don’t know what the wimp thinks in regard to the legislature, but what I do know is he can’t dictate to them like he is accustomed to.
Again, anonymous coward, I’m still waiting for you to back up your outrageous lie that we were “nearly shoulder to shoulder once.”
How does this benefit the candidates? Who cares?! It's supposed to be about helping the citizens of this state make an informed decision on election day.
Sure, politically it may be a risk for Snyder to debate, but it's the undeniable right thing to do. If he is willing to deprive the people of this state a chance to get to know his policies and defend them, simply because his marketing campaign has been successful in giving him a lead in the polls, then obviously he makes his decisions not on moral grounds, but political ones.
I am a Democrat, but I voted for Snyder in the primary because I wanted to encourage moderate Republicanism. And I was fully open to the idea of voting for him in the general election, IF he convinced me to do so in the (what I assumed would be gauranteed) debates. I was going to watch the debates, and then decide who to vote for.
If Snyder continues to duck the debates, is he going to win in November? Probably. But will he get my vote? Not a chance. So he has to decide if he wants people to vote for him because they agree with his positions, or because they like his 'nerd' commercials.
If he's truly 'not a politician', he would prefer the former.
Back and forth they go. Bernero isn't interested in debates. He's only interested in scoring political points and it's not working because people are seeing that his rhetoric about the debates are just that. Rhetoric. The Lansing State Journal this morning had the story that Snyder did put out the deadline, but what really killed it was that Bernero went public with the negotiations rather than dealing honestly with the negotiations.
Your name calling and lies really mean nothing. First, Snyder did debate in the Republican primaries. Yes, it was once, and no, he didn't participate in later ones, but why bother? He's putting himself in front of the voters. Why screw around with debates run by the liberal media when you can put yourself in front of the people that are going to push either A or B in the voting booth?
In addition to your lies about him not participating in debates during the primaries, you're lying about his plans not being out there. They are. In detail. All you have to do is google him and look at his website. Click on the details of what he has headlined and you'll see his positions laid out.
Call him any names you like, and you will and do, but what it boils down to is that people are not happy with the last eight years of Socialism under the current Governor and they want away from the Socialism and away from the Democrats.
As for the other guy claiming he's a Democrat and voting for Snyder to bring moderation to the Republican party, thank you for crossing over, much like socialist Democrats did in the past to get McCain votes in Michigan primaries as well as other states.
By choosing Snyder, we now have Democrat lite for the next governor rather than a Conservative which is what this state and country really needs and what we'll have following the November election.
“Bernero isn't interested in debates?” That’s one of the dumbest thing you have ever said, anonymous coward. No one said the wimp didn’t put out a deadline, but the question is why does he get to make all the rules? What Bernero did was point out to the press that the wimp was using the alleged rules to try and kill the debates and run the clock out because he's afraid.
“Name calling?” What are you talking about? Once again, anonymous coward, I have never lied; that's what you do. Snyder was in one GOP debate, and then blew off the rest when it got hot to hold his campaign events and spend his corporate millions on TV spots. Second, there is no such thing as a “liberal media.” No one is denying it’s not smart for the wimp not to hold debates, just cowardly.
Again, anonymous coward, he has no plan, and it certainly not a plan what will stand up to any scrutiny. That’s one reason he only goes in front of friendly audiences at townhalls.
Once again, anonymous coward, there is no such thing as a Socialist Democrat in the United States, and that is just a false, Republican smear.
The absolute last thing this country or state needs is a conservative if teabggers are an example of a conservative. I could live with a real conservative, but not what passes for it today. After what Republicans did to this country by taking it to the brink of a depression and a financial meltdown, Republican rule is the last thing we need.
Again, anonymous coward, I’m still waiting for you to back up your outrageous lie that we were “nearly shoulder to shoulder once.”
I don't blame father of the world greatest burger for not wanting the nerd to debate. If people knew what Rick Snyder truly believes he would lose points in a hurry.
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