Barrett, Lawrence would like a word about their past 

One thing about this Tom Barrett-Will Lawrence congressional race is you don’t need to parse syntax to find differences between the two. 

Here’s another: Both would prefer if voters would overlook parts of their political records.  

Sadly, it’s very possible Tuesday’s WILX debate (which aired at the same time as the governor’s debate on WLNS, BTW) is the only time these two will stand side by side this entire election.  

If it is, here’s what we learned.  

Will Lawrence is apparently no longer the scraggly-bearded, wild-eyed progressive activist who talked about defunding the police in 2020, erasing borders, and tweeting that former U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin should “hurry up and die” so the next generation can get started with reforms. 

The Democratic nominee in MI-7 showed up to the WKAR studio in his blue suit and neatly trimmed beard to present his cornerstone progressive positions – Medicare for all, Israeli “genocide” over the Palestinians – as defensible, almost mainstream. 

He argues that a single-payer, Medicare For All health care system would save consumers money, as a whole. His views on the Israeli reaction to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks are in line with Israeli human rights groups. 

As for everything else? 

“I’m somebody who thinks out loud,” Lawrence said. “I’ve spent my share of time thinking out loud, like lots of Millennials on the internet. I’m not afraid to change my mind and live and learn.” 

As Barrett read an old Lawrence statement about envisioning a world where “amnesty is granted to all 12 million illegal immigrants” in the United States, Lawrence burst in with “These were hypothetical statements from 15 years ago.” 

“You’re running for Congress,” Barrett shot back. “It’s not a hypothetical statement.” 

Then there’s the stuff Barrett didn’t even get to in the debate. Lawrence’s past support for the “Green New Deal.” His support for trying to ban gasoline-powered cars. Lawrence said on a 2024 podcast that the collapse of the Baltimore Bridge was a “climate activist’s dream” because it prevented the flow of coal across the waterway for a spell. 

It was like a basket of goodies that Barrett didn’t get into during the debate. Afterward, he went overtime with reporters so he could throw them all over the table for us to see. 

“If I had said things like that, you would be asking me every day, ‘Do you defend this? Do you defend that?’” Barrett said. “So, we’re supposed to believe somebody who had a 15-year record as an activist, in the final weeks of a campaign, can disavow their entire history? I call that a conversion of convenience.” 

As for Barrett, the freshman member of Congress is being hooked with voting twice against efforts to rein in the war in Iran. Instead, he voted in favor of money to continue its operations. Months ago, the standard Republican line was about stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons. 

That was then.  

Now, he’s among the only Republicans to vote three times in support of measures to limit and wind down the military operations in Iran absent congressional sign-off. 

In the process, he’s walking the proverbial tightrope not to be overly critical of President Donald Trump for starting it. 

“For me, this war has gone on long enough,” Barrett told reporters after the debate. “We are seeing the financial effects and the fiscal impact on that back home with high gas prices and the effect that has across our economy.” 

President Donald Trump said at a Nebraska rally Monday that he sees the war as a “small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let ‘em take out Los Angeles. Let ‘em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay.” 

Lawrence went after the incumbent with that one, forcing Barrett to directly condemn Trump’s comment live on air. 

He also went after Barrett for voting to give nearly $70 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), accusing the agency of shooting civilians “in the face and in the back.” 

He moved on to cuts to the Affordable Care Act, which Lawrence said drove a Lansing-area mechanic’s monthly premiums from $600 a month to $2,000. That’s just one example. 

Lawrence verbally tackled Barrett for not standing up to Trump over his “completely erratic and destabilizing” tariff policy, which changes “based on his mood or Lord knows what else.” 

“He voted with his President Trump every single time it matters,” Lawrence told the press after the debate. 

The differences were clearly easy to see.  

It’s harder to figure out this: Which version of each candidate would voters actually send to Washington if elected?