For the past week I have been trying to think of a reasonable defense for a candidate for any office to refuse to appear in a debate or at least a campaign forum. If you’ve frequented the Flash Report (www.flashreport.org) you may have read that by a 10-1 margin members of the California Republican Party want to see a debate for key statewide races at the convention next month. It seems however, that two of the major candidates are responsible for holding these debates up.
The two candidates who are bending over backwards to avoid a debate and actively trying to shut down an effort to organize a debate? Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina. Apparently the dynamic duo who have been MIA at the polls until recently apparently have no eager desire to join in another cherished part of the American democracy…discussing and comparing ideas with your opponents!
Steve Poizner responded to the “debate or not debate” question by offering t surrender his slated speaking appearance at the CRP Convention to make room for a debate with Whitman. To up the ante a little more the Poizner Campaign sent out an email today uging voters to sign a petition to have a debate at the CRP Convention. You can find the petition here:
http://stevepoizner.com/debate-petition/?tr=y&auid=5959384
From the looks of it Whitman has not offered much of an explanation other than she doesn’t want to debate.
Similarly the other diva making their political debut, Carly Fiorina is dancing around the same issue. Fiorina however, is a multi-talented debate dodger. Everyone’s favorite failed CEO is not only dodging the CRP debate, she is now refusing to attend a debate that was being organized by Chapman University. Clearly the organizers of the Orange County debate aren’t too please with Ms. Fiorina either, this scuffle was chronicled in today’s OC Register Total Buzz Blog:
http://totalbuzz.freedomblogging.com/2010/02/18/is-fiorina-ducking-o-c-debate/30437/
If Whitman and Fiorina are serious about representing California they should not treat interest voters as subjects. The spirit of representative democracy finds its soul in an open disscussion of ideas by those who hold and seek power. Carly and Meg should repect this tradition. Their refusal to debate sadly is not surprising, but what should we expect from candidates who have just recently figured out how to vote, only to ask for ours a few years later?
RT @DrunkonPolitics: "Daily Drink-6/15/2010" - http://bit.ly/9yHwJF #tcot #sgp #gop #teaparty
RT @DrunkonPolitics: "Daily Drink-6/15/2010" - http://bit.ly/9yHwJF #tcot #sgp #gop #teaparty
RT @DrunkonPolitics: "Daily Drink-6/15/2010" - http://bit.ly/9yHwJF #tcot #sgp #gop #teaparty
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