UPDATE: Yob has responded to my blog post (see below) and said that all signs point to a competitive Senate candidacy for Terri Lynn Land.
Nearly lost in the hubbub of the holidays was a very odd
tweet sent by John Yob about his candidate, Terri Lynn Land.
tweet sent by John Yob about his candidate, Terri Lynn Land.
On Dec. 26, Yob, Land’s campaign manager, retweeted a poston Twitter originally sent out by Justin Higgins of JHPolitics.com. I would assert that the Higgins tweet (below)
was a not-too-subtle jab at Land, the presumptive Republican nominee in this
year’s Michigan Senate race. The way I read the tweet, Higgins is essentially
saying: the Democrats are in real trouble if even a weak candidate like Terri
Lynn Land has a chance of winning election.
Is there any other way to read it? Is there any reason in
the world why Yob would send it out to the twitterverse?
the world why Yob would send it out to the twitterverse?
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John
Yob retweeted
Yob retweeted
It’s worth noting that Democrats are pretty much assured oflosing their majority if a candidate like Terri Lynn Land can win in Michigan.
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The initial tweet was prompted by a brief post written by Higgins on
JHPolitics. It’s unclear to me why Yob thought Higgins’ overall assessment of Land’s prospects were complimentary – assuming he bothered to read
it.
JHPolitics. It’s unclear to me why Yob thought Higgins’ overall assessment of Land’s prospects were complimentary – assuming he bothered to read
it.
Another oddity: Yob never posted a link to Higgins’ web page.
A conservative Republican commentator, Higgins writes briefly about pundits
who now believe Land will be competitive against Congressman Gary Peters, the all-but-certain Democratic nominee.
who now believe Land will be competitive against Congressman Gary Peters, the all-but-certain Democratic nominee.
But he also cautions that some political observers are
skeptical.
skeptical.
And he ends his post with this:
“As I will always warn with a state like Michigan, we’re
looking at an uphill slog. Land is a successful statewide candidate, but a
Senate race is a different beast. For some reason, states like Michigan don’t
mind putting Republicans in charge on the state level, but they want liberals
to represent them in D.C.. Let’s hope Terri Lynn Land can crack through the
stranglehold.”
looking at an uphill slog. Land is a successful statewide candidate, but a
Senate race is a different beast. For some reason, states like Michigan don’t
mind putting Republicans in charge on the state level, but they want liberals
to represent them in D.C.. Let’s hope Terri Lynn Land can crack through the
stranglehold.”
That’s not exactly an endorsement, or something you would shout
from the rooftops.
from the rooftops.
Or tweet out for the whole world to see.
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Here’s Yob’s response:
“I agree with most of the content of (Higgins’) article, including the points that signs continue to point to a competitive senate race; prognosticators are calling it a race to watch, Cook Report now calling it a toss-up, Land being a successful statewide candidate, etc.
“I also agree with his point that Michigan has recently gone Blue in federal races. The point he left out was that a big part of the reason that Michigan has gone Blue in federal races is because the federal elections tend to happen in presidential election years. Republicans do better in gubernatorial years. The last time that there was an open senate seat in a gubernatorial year also happens to be the last time that Republicans won a senate seat in 1994. I think we are on the verge of going two for two.
“Finally, the reason I didn’t include the link to the article is because I retweeted (Higgins’) tweet and his tweet didn’t link to his article. All this said, retweeting doesn’t constitute an endorsement, but in this case I do happen to agree with the JH Politics author’s main points and direction.”
