Debate on, Mr. Deeds

There being 118 days between this one and the one when an election happens, Robert F. McDonnell is of the mind that R. Creigh Deeds ought to have 10 to spare for a bit of rhetorical scrapping. The Republican’s frogginess has not yet compelled Deeds to leap, at least not to the height McDonnell dictates. Somewhere from the vicinity of McDonnell’s gubernatorial campaign HQ, taunts are heard in the form of clucks.

A triple-dog dare might be required to spur movement from Deeds’ side of the playground. The Democratic state senator’s camp released a statement last week saying, “We expect the number of debates to be in line with precedent from the 2005 Kaine-Kilgore and Deeds-McDonnell debate schedules.” That year, Democrat Timothy M. Kaine and Republican Jerry Kilgore debated three times. McDonnell and Deeds, in what proved a razor-thin race for attorney general, also debated thrice.

Now McDonnell wants to square off three times in less than a week, Oct. 6 in Arlington, Oct. 9 in Roanoke and Oct. 12 in Richmond, along with other debates adding up to the double-digit total. “Creigh is eager to go out and debate Bob McDonnell, but we’re going to do it on independent terms, not Bob McDonnell’s terms,“ said Deeds press secretary Jared Leopold. So far, just one debate is on the calendar, scheduled for July 25 at the Homestead Resort, smack in the middle of Deeds territory in Bath County.

It has been written elsewhere that McDonnell’s opponent in the 2005 GOP attorney general primary issued a similar challenge and that McDonnell’s campaign boss called it “grandstanding.” If that’s the case, then an accusation of hypocrisy carries merit, but not relevance. Neither does it render moot the McDonnell campaign’s assertion: “Virginians are tired of sound bite campaigns. They want to know where the candidates stand on the issues of today. And they want to hear this directly from the candidates.”

We concur.

Modern politics has been transformed to a string of image pageants staged mostly in television advertisements and snippets on the local nightly news. This reduces candidates to mere products of public relations machines that work in editing rooms smoothly washing away warts as though they were makeup smudges. Especially in those realms that fall outside that otherworldly place known as a presidential campaign, where spinmeisters roam, debates provide voters a vivid look at candidates forced to work without scripts, even after having carefully rehearsed answers.

Deeds is within the bounds of his rights and simple sensibility to insist on a part in setting the terms, but this applies to how the debates will be formatted not their number. So long as he has a fair part in establishing the structure, what does Deeds reasonably have to fear in 10 debates or 20? If the state senator’s ideas are superior to McDonnell’s, as Deeds insists they are, what better way to prove as much than by standing toe-to-toe with his foe, laying one platform next to the other?

Candidates use staged photo opportunities sandwiched between 30-second bits of puffery to drill mantra into the electorate’s brain, and McDonnell, with his fat campaign war chest, is well-prepared for this. Perusing candidates’ records is one means of escaping the drear inculcation. Another is watching and listening as candidates respond to inquiries rather than cues.

So do the state a favor, Mr. Deeds. Let us see your ideas tested against another’s. Don’t hide behind past practices, unless considering a worthy model, such as Lincoln-Douglas. Those two debated seven times, but each time for several hours or more. Ten times at half the length would give Virginians a close look at the men who would be their governor. Ten is not too many but rather a fair minimum. Or do we hear the sound of clucks emanating from a place closer to home?