Running for governor ought to require more than a slogan, a campaign logo and a professionally edited video assuring us that the candidate loves Colorado almost as much as the consultant loves slow-motion footage.
At some point, you have to stand in public and answer questions.
According to Colorado Politics, Democratic nominee Phil Weiser and unaffiliated candidate Greg Lopez will do that Thursday night at the Pikes Peak Center in Colorado Springs. The hour-long event will be the first televised faceoff of the general-election campaign. Republican nominee Victor Marx declined the invitation and has not yet agreed to a debate with his general-election opponents.
Let us not get misty-eyed about political debates. They are not democracy’s sacred Super Bowl. Plenty of them are consultant theater with better lighting. Candidates rehearse their zingers, ignore the question actually asked and sprint toward the talking point that tested well with six undecided voters and somebody’s aunt.
But showing up still matters.
It is the minimum damn admission price for anyone asking Coloradans to hand him the keys to state government.
Marx has said he intends to participate in one debate with Weiser, and only without a moderator. That proposed event has not materialized. He has also passed on multiple debate invitations.
Maybe he has objections to the format. Maybe he believes the sponsoring organizations are unfair. Maybe his campaign thinks skipping these events is brilliant strategy. I do not know, and I am not going to invent an explanation for him.
That is precisely the problem. He should explain it himself.
I am a Republican. That does not require me to pretend the empty chair is occupied just because the missing candidate has an R next to his name. If my party’s nominee wants to run Colorado, he should be willing to stand beside the other candidates, take the same questions and defend his plans in front of the people whose votes he is asking to receive.
Republicans should demand that standard most aggressively from our own nominee. Otherwise, all our talk about accountability is just merchandise at the partisan gift shop.
Weiser and Lopez do not earn gold stars merely for appearing. Showing up gets them into the examination room. It does not pass the examination.
They still owe voters something more than rehearsed fog about affordability, safer communities and protecting Colorado’s future. What would they actually do? What would it cost? Who would pay? Which laws would they change? What power would they refuse to use? And when their plans collide with reality, which promise gets tossed overboard first?
The governor’s office touches taxes, regulations, roads, schools, water, energy, public safety and the thousand daily headaches created when government tries to help. Anyone seeking that office should be able to explain his governing philosophy without a teleprompter, a friendly audience or a campaign video editor standing nearby with digital Febreze.
So watch Weiser and Lopez. Listen for specifics. Notice the questions they dodge. Count how often an answer survives contact with arithmetic.
And notice the third candidate who is not there.
Victor Marx may eventually get the one debate he says he wants. Until then, he owes Colorado a direct explanation for why he is absent from the debates happening now.
The job interview is public. The chair is waiting. If you want to run Colorado, sit down and answer the questions.
Source: Colorado Politics
Now It's Your Turn...