OP-ED: Let’s Have a Real Discussion About Michigan’s Moms and Families

by Erin Herron

Terri Lynn Land is upset. She’s upset because she was called out for her lack of preparedness on Michigan Calling, a call-in program where Michigan voters had the chance to ask her questions on a wide range of issues. Land had no real answer for how to deal with ISIS, no plan for replacing the Affordable Care Act if repealed and no idea which side of the auto bailout she’s on from day to day.

Numerous times Land was tongue-tied and resorted to mentioning that she is a mother. Seven times she used her position as a mom to fill in answers that lacked substance. I’m sure that Terri Lynn Land is proud of the work she’s done raising two children and I bet she bursts at the seams with pride when her children succeed, as any parent would. But in-and-of-itself, being a mom doesn’t qualify someone to represent all of the other moms of Michigan in Washington, D.C.

If Terri Lynn Land wants to have a debate about issues that matter to Michigan moms, I welcome it. Let’s debate about allowing more pollution into Michigan’s air and water. As a mom, I think we should do all we can to make sure our children can breathe clean air that doesn’t cause asthma and drink safe, clean water. Terri Lynn Land thinks that we should do away with environmental safeguards and trust coal-dependent utility companies to keep our air and water safe, and that the Koch brothers should be able to store “pet coke” next to the Detroit River. That’s not something a Michigan mom would want for their children.

Let’s debate how to make sure that working mothers are able to put food on the table while still taking care of their children. As a mom, I think that paid sick leave and equal pay for equal work should be the law of the land. Terri Lynn Land talks about giving women more flexibility in the workforce but has no concrete plan to give this the force of law. Michigan moms need real solutions that help them earn a decent living and raise children – not Terri Lynn Land’s vague rhetoric.

Terri Lynn Land also opposes a woman’s right to control her own health care decisions. Land believes that government bureaucrats and politicians in Washington are better equipped to make choices for women. She supports the Supreme Court’s recent Hobby Lobby ruling that allows corporations to discriminate against women and deny them access to reproductive health care.

Land opposed the auto bailout – a move that would have put hundreds of thousands of Michigan moms in economic dire straights.

These aren’t positions of someone who understands the needs of all Michigan moms and families.

Instead of a real debate about issues that matter to women, Land has cried to the media because many reporters and listeners questioned her crutch-like use of the term, “I’m a mom.” I honestly think that a male candidate that answered each question with the phrase, “I’m a dad” would have been questioned just as hard by the media and listeners. What Terri Lynn Land is doing is taking legitimate criticism about her poor performance and using her gender to score cheap political points. This is a disservice to all the other hard-working moms that go to work everyday, prepared for the task at hand.

Terri Lynn Land should stop complaining about criticism from others about her performance. Instead she should look in the mirror, take stock of her policy positions and how they affect Michigan moms and families, and understand that the real reason she’s not resonating with us is that she’s woefully out-of-touch. Not because she’s a mom.

Erin Herron is a mother of two children and lives in Livonia, Michigan