Terri Lynn Land, woman. Yet unpopular with women.
Michigan Republican Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land's "I'm a woman so I can't possibly be part of a war on women (just don't ask me about policy)" campaign platform does not appear to be working with voters. While Democrat Gary Peters' lead over Land holds steady at five points, 41 percent to 36 percent, in
the latest Public Policy Polling poll, Land's favorables have dropped substantially. In
April, 28 percent of voters viewed her favorably while 31 percent viewed her unfavorably. Now, it's 32 percent favorable, 42 percent unfavorable.
Perhaps even more striking than Land's overall drop with voters is how her favorability has fallen with women. Land has aggressively pitched herself as a woman who is therefore better on women's issues than Peters, running a campaign ad devoted mostly to Land ostentatiously drinking from a mug while viewers "think about" the idea that she could possibly be part of a war on women. Republican messaging guru Frank Luntz dubbed it "the worst ad of the political process," and Land's polling results tend to back that up. In April, 25 percent of women viewed her favorably and 27 percent viewed her unfavorably—a deficit, but of only two points, which isn't so bad for a Republican. Now, 31 percent of women view Land favorably and 42 percent view her unfavorably. That's a big deficit to rack up in the months during which you're running your "I'm a women who gets women's issues" ad.
As it turns out, women can see through a candidate from the anti-women party running on an "I'm a woman. Good enough, right?" platform. Gee, who would've thought it? Insulting people's intelligence while taking the endorsement of an extremist anti-abortion group and opposing the Paycheck Fairness Act isn't the best campaign strategy. This is still a tight race, but Land appears to be doing her best to change that—in Gary Peters' favor.