Poli-ticks

How dare you not debate?

By Arlene Violet
Posted 8/15/18

“I do believe that the public has a fundamental right to understand what a candidate believes and what their opinions are. Those opinions form the basis of how they will govern in the …

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Poli-ticks

How dare you not debate?

Posted

“I do believe that the public has a fundamental right to understand what a candidate believes and what their opinions are. Those opinions form the basis of how they will govern in the future.”
—Patricia Morgan, Republican gubernatorial candidate

“Matt Brown and Gina Raimondo have two very different visions for the state and voters deserve to hear about them.”
—Juliet Barbara, Matt Brown's campaign spokeswoman

Quotes from the Providence Journal, August 8 edition, page A5

Patricia Morgan and Juliet Barbara are absolutely right. How dare the governor and the mayor of Cranston hide behind their fundraising edge and refuse a forum for debate to their respective challengers? They are spitting on this time-honored democratic tool to educate voters and, instead, are opting for checkbook campaigns where one-sided ads and flyers bomb the public into thinking that they are wonderful.

You can take it to the bank that what their respective refusals really show is that they are willing to do anything to win. The public should expect them to act in office as they are acting now, namely, that they will do anything to advance their careers as opposed to the public good.

This ‘strategy” as the governor calls it, has been used by presidential candidates and others who weasel out of showing transparency for just what they stand. That doesn’t make it right. In fact, this dodge has only grown in popularity.

Then-congressman Patrick Kennedy, years ago, would only debate his opponent on PBS which, at the time, had anemic ratings. Excuses proliferated that an incumbent wouldn’t debate a fringe candidate. Now, flush with cash as opposed to their respective opponents, the front-runners have decided to buy the election through carefully coiffed ads as opposed to whom they really may be. God forbid, they must think, that they should have an unscripted moment for voters to see their unvarnished selves.

The bottom line is that elections should not be decided by the most impressive fundraising. We need to raise the bar for ourselves, the country, and the state. The public should simply refuse to vote for a candidate who is so self-centered and for whom winning at any cost results in their evading and disrespecting the voters by refusing to debate on television and radio.

You should also refuse support because they treat you like you are stupid. Some candidates finally "agree" to debate but only after absentee ballots have to be filed with the Board of Elections. They think, of course, you are too dumb to realize what they are doing. Another tactic these absentee candidates try is to convince you that they are "debating" because they respond to charges made by their opponents. This practice is called "gaslighting" and it affords the campaign time to have many people actually fashion a politically correct response based on internal polls.
So, it’s up to you to decide whether you will preserve the right for voters to measure candidates head to head, in a format that allows for challenge and engagement of positions. I hope that you will join me in refusing to vote for anyone who so disrespects the voters by avoiding the critical role debates play in our society.

Arlene Violet is an attorney and former Rhode Island Attorney General.

Arlene Violet

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