LANSING – Immediate reaction to the one televised debate between the two candidates for governor coalesced around the idea that Democrat Virg Bernero did not get enough of a bounce to challenge the lead in the polls enjoyed by Republican Rick Snyder.

However, one Democratic observer said the comments Bernero made about the company Snyder invested in, Discera, could prove damaging to the Republican. The argument about Gateway moving jobs to China is several years old, while the news about Discera is just three months old, said Joe DiSano of Main Street Strategies and the podcast political show, “Two Guys Named Joe.”

But Greg McNeilly, a Republican strategist, said the developments about Discera have already been reported and are less sensational.

Even DiSano said the potential for a positive impact for Bernero could depend on the play the comments get in follow up news stories.

Overall, those interviewed said there was no major stumble by either of the candidates, nor a major blow struck. Whether in the end that scored the debate for Snyder or Bernero depended on the individual asked.

Those interviewed also said the debate did little to help the voters get a better feel for who they are as individuals.

They also said it was unlikely the debate drew a big viewership given that football games and the Major League baseball playoffs were on other networks. “Snyder could not have picked a more perfect time for the debate,” said Eric Foster of the political consulting firm Foster, McCollum, White and Associates.

Foster also said parents would have been getting their children ready for school on Monday. Bernero would have done better if he had been able to get a debate on primetime on a Wednesday or Thursday.

“I don’t know if Virg needed a homerun, a triple or a double, but he didn’t get one,” said Craig Ruff of Public Sector Consultants. “He got a single out of this one.”

Still, Ruff said the debate goes to Bernero because in a clean debate the underdog always wins.

Foster also said Bernero did not hit a home run in the debate, and lost an opportunity to connect with voters by discussing with greater specificity what he had done as mayor of Lansing to deal with social needs during times of financial stress.

McNeilly said Snyder won because he did not take off after Bernero as Bernero did he. “Snyder won because he was himself, authentically calm and positive,” he said.

Bernero, on the other hand, dealt with the “politics of personal destruction,” which probably hurt him with independent voters, McNeilly said.

While DiSano said the attacks on Gateway and Discera could have a major impact on drawing voters to Bernero, especially because of Snyder’s “weaslely and shifty” answers on the questions. No one could watch the debate and come to the conclusion that Snyder should be the state’s next chief executive, he said.

But Foster said the China-bashing questions wouldn’t do much to draw Democrats to Bernero because voters wanted a more personal answers to their problems.

Monitoring websites such as Twitter and Facebook, a number of people complained that they thought the debate lacked specificity, but Ruff said he thought the questions were insightful and the answers mostly very specific. Both candidates dodged and weaved a bit on the issue of transportation funding, he said, and Snyder was a little more specific on the issue of state worker pensions and pay. Overall, the candidates gave very specific answers, Ruff said.

While not making a major mistake, Foster said Snyder did flub by being specific on his views on same-sex marriage, that same-sex couples should be able to make contracts.

That answer might turn off some social conservatives, Foster said, and his answer that mental health services need more money may turn off some fiscal conservatives who think overall government needs to be cut.

McNeilly said Snyder probably “did add a pause” to his campaign that he didn’t need to by his answer on same-sex marriage. But no social conservative is going to turn from Snyder to Bernero because of the Democrat’s stance on abortion rights.

McNeilly also said Snyder should not have used up his rebuttals too quickly by responding to Bernero’s attacks on his business practices. Indeed, by the halfway point of the debate, both candidates already had exhausted the number of rebuttals allowed under the rules to which the campaigns agreed.

While the debate probably did not net Bernero much, Foster said some polling is showing the race is tightening, and if Bernero focuses on what he has done and can do he could pull in more voters his way.

McNeilly said the race will tighten as each candidate’s base of support comes back to him, but nothing in the debate would hurt Snyder’s chance of winning.

Bernero said after the debate that voters got a clear look at why Snyder wanted only one debate.

“He’s running away from his record,” he said.

Snyder initially proposed three debates, but Bernero disliked some of the terms, leading to Snyder rescinding that offer and the eventual agreement for just Sunday’s debate.

Snyder said voters could see a clear choice, and he took a dig at the repeated refrain from Bernero – and many candidates – that they are “fighting” for Michigan.

“It’s about being thoughtful, hard-working and a problem-solver,” he said. “We’ve had enough fighters.”

Snyder’s running mate, Rep. Brian Calley of Portland, said he was unbothered that Snyder never went on offense against Bernero.

“Rick has more respect for the people of the state of Michigan than to subject them to a constant barrage of Washington, D.C.- style attacks,” he said. “I also have more faith in the intelligence of the people of this state than the mayor does.”

Bernero’s running mate, Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence, said Bernero came across as the candidate with a clear plan and rightly raised questions about who Snyder is.

“That is the question that to me really needs to be answered in this campaign,” she said.

The Snyder campaign came armed with associates from Snyder’s business ventures to rebut Bernero’s outsourcing claims.

Jim Wharton, who reported to Snyder while Snyder was CEO of Gateway, said Bernero’s portrait of Snyder as an outsourcer was unfounded.

“I didn’t recognize who he was talking about,” he said. “Very little of what I heard was true about Rick’s role at Gateway. Rick knew how to find growth and sustain growth.”

And Ted Dacko, former CEO of Ann Arbor based HealthMedia, Incorporated, said Snyder, who was on the company’s board while Dacko was CEO, actively fought attempts at outsourcing for the company. In 2004, a consultant advised Dacko to consider outsourcing technology and product development to India. Dacko said Snyder said “absolutely not,” saying it would not save money and would pull jobs from Michigan.

“This idea that he’s an outsourcer is a fabrication,” he said.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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