Politics

The Verdict On Terri Lynn Land Is In: Not Ready For Prime Time

May 30, 2014, 7:26 AM

The Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce's Mackinac Policy Conference was the scene of a rare appearance in front of reporters for Terri Lynn Land, the former Michigan secretary of state who is the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. Her opponent is U.S. Rep. Gary Peters.

In his column on the website of Michigan Radio, Jack Lessenberry assesses Land's performance:

Land was absolutely dreadful. She came across like a high school student who had memorized a speech. You had the terrible sensation that if interrupted, she would have had to start all over from the beginning. She spoke in slogans, seemed incapable of providing specific answers, and seemed not to understand the current hot-button issue of “Internet neutrality,” which threatens to allow rich conglomerates to dominate cyberspace.

Worse, when surrounded by reporters and bombarded with questions afterwards, she clearly panicked. She was a frightened Sarah Palin in sensible shoes, and everybody knew it.

Afterwards, one journalist said, “Can you imagine if there is a debate and someone asks her where North Korea is?”

In the Free Press, Lansing correspondent Kathleen Gray writes:

U.S. Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land, a Republican from Byron Center, got her first taste of full-throttle media scrutiny Wednesday after a forum at the Mackinac Policy Conference.

And it wasn’t pretty.

At one point, looking slightly panicked and clearly uncomfortable, she pushed microphones away and said: “I can’t do this. I talk with my hands.”

And when confronted with several questions, regarding whether she would have voted for the federal bailout for General Motors and Chrysler (she has said she didn’t support the bailout), she repeated a rote answer: “I support the autoworkers. I’m glad the autos are doing well.”

After 2½ minutes, her spokeswoman uttered the words reporters hate — “Last question” — and quickly whisked her away.


Read more:  Michigan Radio


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