Biggest surprise of debate – no Snyder mention of Granholm

Many months ago I assumed that incumbent Gov. Rick Snyder would grind away at Democratic challenger Mark Schauer by relentlessly linking the former state Senate Minority Leader to ex-governor Jennifer Granholm and Michigan’s “lost decade.”

It wasn’t until about six weeks before the November election that the Republicans began to run ads on Snyder’s behalf that made the Granholm-Schauer connection. And it wasn’t until near the end of Sunday night’s gubernatorial campaign debate that Snyder finally mentioned the lost decade of 2000-10 when Michigan’s economy was a mess.

(In a bit of a slip, a Michigan Democratic Party press release this morning blasted Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land’s previous opposition to the 2008-09 auto industry rescue that “saved millions of jobs and brought Michigan’s economy back from the brink of total collapse.” The obvious question: Are the Dems conceding that the economy was “on the brink of total collapse” under Granhlom, just before Snyder took over?)

At the same time, it was quite a surprise that the incumbent governor never discussed his predecessor, Granholm, during Sunday’s hour-long town hall forum. Just the mention of that name creates a visceral, negative reaction among many voters four years after she left office and left the state. 

Schauer certainly wasn't going to mention the prior governor. But in an interview with The Macomb Daily earlier this month, Snyder staunchly defended the negative Schauer-Granholm ads. But on Sunday, it was noticeably odd that he never went in that direction.

(The oddest part of the entire debate was Schauer calling the governor “Rick” throughout, and the governor and the media panel referring to the Democratic challenger as “congressman.” Presidents and governors carry their title for life, but why was it that Snyder didn’t pipe up at some point and mention that Schauer only served two years in Congress until voters ousted him?)

Meanwhile, at an event in Clinton Township this morning, Snyder again told reporters that Schauer is knowingly repeating the lie that his administration cut K-12 education funding by $1 billion.

“He’s proven over and over again that he’s lying on this,” Snyder said. “When someone says a lie over and over, sometimes people start to believe it.”