No Shows
Republican candidates write off debates in Southern Arizona
Speaking of debates: It appears most of the Republican candidates who are running for statewide office aren't interested in debating in Southern Arizona.
All four of the major candidates for statewide office rejected offers by the League of Women Voters and Arizona Public Media to set up televised debates.
Gubernatorial candidate Doug Ducey said no to debating Democrat Fred DuVal (although Ducey did debate DuVal here last month in a forum co-sponsored by Tucson Local Media and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce). Secretary of State candidate Michele Reagan said she couldn't find the time to debate Democrat Terry Goddard in Southern Arizona. Attorney General candidate Mark Brnovich declined to debate Democrat Felicia Rotelini down here. And Republican Diane Douglas, who is such a terrible candidate that even the Arizona Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Democratic candidate David Garcia, is another no-show. (To be fair, Douglas is refusing to debate Garcia in any forum other than the legally required Clean Elections debate.)
Why all the no-shows? We'd guess it has a lot to do with the diminishing power of the media in general, combined with a growing fear among candidates that they might say something stupid in an unscripted environment. In a world where TV ads rule and GOP candidates have a voter-registration advantage, they just don't see enough of an upside to debating their opponents to justify the risk.
