U.S. Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land picks up her first Detroit endorsement Sunday from Crain's.
In a 15-sentence column, company chairman Keith Crain describes the Republlcan as "the most qualified to be the next senator from Michigan."
"Land is probably not the best campaigner," the Detroit media company chairman acknowledges.
Crain pointedly avoids naming opponent Gary Peters, a Democratic congressman, who he says " simply doesn't have the business experience to best represent the state in Washington."
Land has spent her whole life in business, and it would serve our state well to have a business executive in Washington as well as Lansing. . . .
There is something to be said for balance, and with Debbie Stabenow as the Democratic senator from Michigan, it also makes very good sense to balance her political point of view with a different point of view.
Land is probably not the best campaigner that has ever run for office, but her skills in running a business and previous elected office seem to us to be far more important than a campaign. . . .
I personally recommend a vote for Land, and so does this publication.
Also on Sunday, the statewide MLive Media Group of eight newspapers endorsed Peters as "unquestionably the better candidate to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Carl Levin." Its editorial adds:
Land has run a bewildering campaign that shows she is far from able to effectively represent the people of Michigan on the national stage.
Last Sunday, the Free Press backed Peters, saying.
This contest produced an epic mismatch between Democratic Rep. Gary Peters, an established and reasoned voice on the Hill, and Republican Terri Lynn Land, a former Michigan Secretary of State who failed to articulate a coherent case for her election. . . .
Her platform and advertising in this campaign suggest she possesses little more than the most rudimentary grasp of the complex issues that are debated in the nation's highest legislative chamber.
The Detroit News hasn't yet endorsed either candidate.
-- Alan Stamm
