We were breathlessly told by pundits and reporters that the Whitmer-Dixon race was a nail-biter. But those of us who didn't imbibe the Republican "red wave" Kool-Aid weren't surprised by the blue blowout in Michigan Tuesday. Me, in the @MichiganAdvance. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
Let's start four weeks out, when a story appeared in the Detroit News trumpeting that it was a “pivotal week” in the race, even tough Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was 17 points up in polls, with Republican Tudor Dixon announcing she’ll “prove them all wrong.” michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
Whitmer was running a smart campaign on kitchen-table issues, including abortion rights. AG Dana Nessel and SOS Jocelyn Benson hammered that democracy, sanity and voting rights were at stake, as the GOP nominated a slate of outré election deniers. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
Dixon was swamped on the airwaves by ads depicting her as an anti-abortion extremist. I hadn't talked to a single independent voter who was more fired up by Dixon’s attacks on drag queens and trans kids playing sports than about #RoeVWade being overturned. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
But I’ve been wrong about elections before — most glaringly when Donald Trump narrowly won Michigan in 2016 — so you always have to leave open the possibility that your radar is off, that there are signs you’re missing and people you’re not listening to. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
So I watched for evidence of a genuine shift in the race. Then came a slew of GOP polls from Trafalgar, Mitchell Research/MIRS, etc. showing it was a dead heat. The Dixon campaign blew out the results and Steve Mitchell did the media rounds. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
As we now know, bad polling was part of a national GOP strategy to “flood the zone with shit,” a favorite disinformation technique from former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and convince everyone the “red wave” was an unstoppable force. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
GOP polls fueled a narrative that Dixon was headed for a 1990 John Engler-style upset over Whitmer — catnip for political reporters after the race had been a snoozefest for so long. The Dixon campaign kept that messaging in the political bloodstream. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
The delusional feedback loop also was fueled by a host of GOP operatives and figures in and outside Michigan posting chest-beating tweets, and from right-wing media figures who seemed to have fully bought the hype — which is the most concerning. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
As @SpencerHayesPR summed it up to the @MichiganAdvance: "The thing that I’ve noticed is mostly just all the Republican messaging has just been full-steam ahead, pretending that Tudor Dixon is killing it and that she’s mounting a miraculous win.” michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
Detroit News opinion editors Nolan Finley and Kaitlyn Buss claimed in an Oct. 26 column toasting Dixon that the race was a "dead heat,” even though the News’ own polling never reflected that. Its last poll showed Whitmer up 9; she won by 10.5 points. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
The willingness of conservative journalists to not just drink the Kool-Aid, but actively participate in selling it, is concerning. The GOP's fake-it-till-you-make-it strategy depended on talking heads buying it — but interestingly, voters didn't. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
We talk a lot about media bias. So let's do that. Finley, who once wrote a crazed column during the early days of COVID excoriating Whitmer an ”arbitrary and condescending dictator,” could be expected to view the race through a right-wing lens. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
I'm a pro-democracy progressive who backs basic human rights for women, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ people. So I naturally found Dixon’s vengeful, far-right platform abhorrent. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
But if you bill yourself as a purveyor of facts—as journalists are supposed to be—who can coldly analyze data and elections, you can’t let your anger or hopes blind you to what’s staring you in the face. That’s a lesson I learned all too well in 2016. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
Even as Dixon made disgusting jokes about the assassination plot against Whitmer, declared 14-year-old rape victims should be forced to give birth and demonized LGBTQ+ kids — I left open the possibility that I could be wrong about her losing. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
On Tuesday, my predictions fared pretty well that Whitmer, Nessel and Benson would win, so would #proposal3 and the other measures, and Dems would take 3 of 4 US House seats. But I didn't think Dems would take the full Legislature. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
The fact that Democrats pulled this off in a swing state like Michigan during a midterm election with a president of their own party whose approval is underwater makes this an absolutely historic victory. It says a lot about strength of the entire ticket. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
Anyone who knows me knows I like being right — but what I like so much more is living in a world where facts still matter, where Americans can come together and stand up for democracy, decency and basic rights. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
Maybe the knee-jerk reaction of reporters to dismiss female experts and liberal analysts as being annoying peddlers of “hopium” this election meant they missed what was really going on post-Roe in Michigan and across the country. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
Maybe ensuring conservative voices get airtime over female, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ journalists 👋— who bring insights into communities often ignored in mainstream coverage — led to botched election projections. michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
Over the past few days, I tuned into some male-dominated pundit wrapups and political shows, which were, not surprisingly, devoid of mea culpas. But in the end, this election proved just how irrelevant hot takes are to voters. 🇺🇸 michiganadvance.com/2022/11/14/sus…
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