It appears that, as they have with so many other norms and traditions of American political life, Democrats have now officially abandoned the American tradition of political debates.
The stated reasons are numerous, but the real reason is they can’t defend the positions of their national party and the record of their President, Joe Biden.
A quick scan of Google, Twitter and conservative media outlets has produced a surprisingly long list of high-profile Democrats who have refused to debate their conservative Republican opponents.
And when they do debate, things don’t go well for the Democrat – unless the moderator puts a thumb on the scale for them.
In one of Florida’s top state house races incumbent Democrat Florida State Senator Loranne Ausley (District 3) and Republican challenger Corey Simon sparred at the Capital Tiger Bay Club in Tallahassee, and Ausley did her best to avoid stating her position on abortion.
To his credit as a reporter and debate moderator POLITICO’s Randy Fineout circled back to ask Ausley to state her position on the 15-week abortion law, pressing her to answer the original question about where she would draw the line on abortion, and Ausley explicitly said she wouldn’t place any government restrictions on abortion.
“The bottom line is that I do not believe that government has any role in this very private decision…” Ausley finally said.
Tell us again who is the “extremist” on abortion, Sen. Ausley.
Of the marquee races of this cycle, perhaps the top contest is the race for Governor of Arizona, pitting former TV journalist and conservative Republican Kari Lake against career “woke” Democrat Katie Hobbs, the current Arizona Secretary of State who was responsible for administering the state’s problematic 2020 election.
As a career politician Hobbs has left a lengthy list of disasters in her wake and Ms. Lake has been pounding Hobbs with ads about her record of racism and misadventure in office.
Hobbs’ refusal to debate was couched in what American Spectator contributor David Catron described as a “word salad” and what the jury assembled at our local coffee shop called BS:
Unfortunately, debating a conspiracy theorist like Kari Lake — whose entire campaign platform is to cause enormous chaos and make Arizona the subject of national ridicule — would only lead to constant interruptions, pointless distractions, and childish name-calling.
Lake’s response was a blistering video pointing out Hobbs was found guilty of racial discrimination against her staff while she was Minority Leader of the Arizona state Senate.
And later it was revealed Katie Hobbs also has a Ralph Northam-style blackface problem as well.
Another high-profile campaign where the Democrat has refused to debate is the race for Attorney General of New York, where incumbent “woke” Democrat Leticia James has refused to debate limited government constitutional conservative Republican Michael Henry.
Mr. Henry – who enjoys the endorsement of ConservativeHQ.com – is leading slightly in the highly regarded Trafalgar Group poll and has been hammering the incumbent Democrat for her role in promoting New York’s disastrous “get out of jail free” policies that have led to a 31% year over year surge in murders, shootings, thefts, robberies in New York City.
In Michigan, incumbent Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel has also refused to debate her GOP rival, Matt DePerno. Like Arizon’s Katie Hobbs, Nessel says she won’t debate a “conspiracy theorist.”
In Pennsylvania, Republican candidate for Governor Doug Mastriano suggested each side pick a moderator to ask the questions, a proposal flatly rejected by Democrat Josh Shapiro who is apparently counting on Pennsylvania's Left-leaning legacy media to give him the same kind of air cover Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s PBS “journalists” gave “woke” Democrat Mandela Barnes in his debate with GOP incumbent Ron Johnson.
The first question asked in the “debate” had nothing to do with top voter issues like inflation, the economy, crime, or illegal immigration. It was about, as the questioner phrased it, “the topic of marijuana legislation.” The next question was about the exigencies of cash bail. By that point it had become clear that the event was little more than a media showcase for “woke” Democrat Mandela Barnes’s agenda. This is what Democrats expect, and usually get, in a “debate,” concluded The American Spectator’s David Catron.
No wonder Shapiro wouldn’t debate Mastriano without that kind of air cover. We urge CHQ readers and friends to contact their Republican candidates to urge them to demand more debates with their Democrat opponents – right down to the school board and county sheriff level.
2022 Elections
Control of Congress
border security
Democrat Florida State Senator Loranne Ausley
candidate debates
Corey Simon
abortion restrictions
Arizona Governor race
Kari Lake
Katie Hobbs
AG of New York race
Leticia James
Michael Henry
Michigan AG Dana Nessel
Matt DePerno