By Stephen Macaulay
The political TV ads in southeastern Michigan are relentless, excessively negative, and/or empty.
It is rather bizarre when an ad touting the virtues of Candidate A is immediately followed by an ad from the opposing side listing the deficiencies of Candidate A, something that in the advertising business is ordinarily considered a no-no: You will never see a Coke ad immediately followed by one for Pepsi because that would make neither soft drink purveyor very happy with the placement.
For example, Tudor Dixon (R) who is running for governor of Michigan, has made up ground against incumbent Gretchen Whitmer by running ads with high production values that mainly say she’ll do things like make sure children can attend school — and it seems she’s talking elementary school — without being exposed to books that might be disturbing (isn’t this something that local school boards decide, not governors?) or make sure that the problem of a fictitious job loss under the Whitmer administration will be remedied: When she took office in January 2019 the unemployment rate in Michigan was 4.2% and presently it is . . . 4.1%.
That is an example of the empty.
As for the excessively negative, the ads against Elissa Slotkin (D), who is running for reelection in Michigan’s 7th District against state Sen. Tom Barrett (R), make it seem as though she has escaped from Bedlam or is masterfully corrupt: the lunacy and larceny simply don’t track. But one must not actually think about this stuff, right?
Meanwhile, Slotkin is running ads about family values and job creation — things that Republicans used to promote.
What makes the Slotkin-Barrett matchup more than parochially interesting is because Slotkin is the first Democrat that Liz Cheney (R) has officially endorsed.
According to a statement that was first received from Cheney by the Detroit Free Press, Cheney wrote:
•"I have come to know Elissa as a good and honorable public servant who works hard for the people she represents, wants what's best for the country, and is in this for the right reasons."
•"While Elissa and I have our policy disagreements, at a time when our nation is facing threats at home and abroad, we need serious, responsible, substantive members like Elissa in Congress."
“Good and honorable public servant.”
“Elissa and I have our policy disagreements.”
Cheney, with those observations, is proving herself to be a Rational Republican, someone who understands that the nature of politics is to have policy disagreements but that those disagreements don’t need to devolve into making things up, and into rhetoric more than tinctured with bile.
Once upon a time the GOP could have been considered the party of responsibility. They were not just the adults in the room, but the adults who were well into their careers and who dressed for dinner. (Sometimes younger adults, a.k.a., the Democrats, would have to upset the elders with some fresh ideas.)
The documented end of Responsible Republicans is the Republican National Committee’s “Resolution Regarding the Republican Party Platform,” adopted prior to the 2020 Republican National Convention.
It concludes:
RESOLVED, That the Republican Party has and will continue to enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda;
RESOVLVED, That the 2020 Republican National Convention will adjourn without adopting a new platform until the 2024 Republican National Convention;
RESOLVED, That the 2020 Republican National Convention calls on the media to engage in accurate and unbiased reporting, especially as it relates to the strong support of the RNC for President Trump and his Administration; and
RESOLVED, That any motion to amend the 2016 Platform or to adopt a new platform, including any motion to suspend the procedures that will allow doing so, will be ruled out of order.
So it comes down to an intellectual exercise that is about as taxing as eating a bag of potato chips.
I wonder what Cheney’s effect will be on Slotkin’s fortune. Thanks to her work on the January 6 Committee Cheney is widely respected by Democrats who will also acknowledge that they may have “policy disagreements” with her. But Slotkin will get the Democrats’ votes, anyway.
Those who “continue to enthusiastically support the [ex-] President’s America-first agenda” — and I dare say that outside of “U.S.A.” rally chants with pumped firsts, precisely what that “agenda” was isn’t exactly clear — will vote Barrett.
Which leaves independents and those who used to think they were Republicans. How does Cheney influence them?