It wasn’t a debate or a “Meet the Candidates” event, but the first side-by-side comparisons for voters choosing between Carl Marlinga and Paul Gieleghem for state Senate took place on TV a couple Sundays ago.
Let’s just say it wasn’t Marlinga’s finest hour.
The former prosecutor was the featured guest on Tim Skubick’s “Off The Record” program and was quickly peppered with questions from a panel of reporters about, of all things, a second span for the Ambassador Bridge. Marlinga is one of a team of lawyers helping bridge-owner Matty Moroun battle the state over the long-awaited project.
While an exasperated Marlinga stumbled through those questions, Gieleghem had appeared an hour earlier on WDIV’s “Flashpoint” with the other members of the Big Four.
As county board chairman, Gieleghem was given the opportunity to thoughtfully answer questions about the economy, jobs, Lake St. Clair and rapid transit. During the discussion, Gieleghem even managed to hold his own with Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, who typically dominates these types of get-togethers.
Meanwhile, Marlinga was hit with questions about his plans to create a Department of Engineering within state government. In a series of rapid-fire answers, Marlinga stammered through a complex explanation about kilowatts and energy units and fuel cells and patents.
It seems that the prosecutor, who used to be so smooth on the tube, is a little rusty.
