Debates are a challenge in more ways than one
Candidates love to challenge each other to debates. It’s an easy way to make news — first for issuing the challenge, then for critiquing the opponent’s response to the challenge, and then again when the debate is held.
But perhaps voters — and maybe even candidates — don’t appreciate that there is much more to holding a debate than just issuing a challenge and having it accepted.
Tonight at 5 p.m., I will be at Flathead Valley Community College to participate as one of three questioners in a debate between the three candidates for Montana’s lone U.S. House seat.
No doubt, I have the easy part tonight. The role of candidates in answering questions is much more significant and will be thoroughly vetted by the press and the three campaigns.
But I think voters ought to know that there is much more that goes into holding a debate than having two or three candidates agree to participate.
The Daily Inter Lake actually reached out to all the candidates in both the U.S. Senate race and the House race on June 9, less than a week following the primary elections. We offered to sponsor debates in both races, and waited to hear back.
Not surprisingly, both Libertartian candidates, who are frequently snubbed by debate sponsors, accepted their invitations immediately. The Democrats and Republicans started “debating” whether they would or could or might be willing to debate and under what circumstances... It seemed for quite a while that there was no real likelihood of a debate taking place.
In the meantime, the initial Democratic candidate for senator, incumbent John Walsh, dropped out of the race amid plagiarism allegations. His replacement, Amanda Curtis, and her opponent, Rep. Steve Daines, got in a media shouting match about whether to do debates or not, and it soon became clear that no Senate debate would be held in Kalispell.
Indeed, it appeared for quite a while that the Inter Lake would also not be able to sponsor a U.S. House debate either when something unexpected happened. Turns out that a debate that a Missoula TV station had scheduled in Kalispell fell through, leaving an opening for us. There was some dispute about whether the original debate would be moved to Missoula or not, but eventually all the candidates and the TV station agreed that it wouldn’t, creating the opening for a new debate in Kalispell sponsored by the Inter Lake.
Which meant that starting on Sept. 22, we had less than a month to arrange an event which had first been proposed more than three months prior.
Fortunately, the folks at Flathead Valley Community College, where we proposed to hold the debate, were able to make a commitment much more quickly than the candidates, so the arrangements started to fall in place. Patti Carlson, the Inter Lake’s marketing director, handled all the logistics and coordination needed for the past three weeks, and we are all hopeful the event will go off without a hitch.
But in any case, I hope everyone in attendance will remember that this 90-minute exercise in American democracy didn’t just happen in a vacuum. It took dozens of hours of work and planning, and the support of many individuals.
We wish everyone could attend, but our experience is that an event such this is more orderly if tickets are required. That’s why we had a free ticket drawing so there would be a random sampling of interested voters in attendance.
Fortunately, we live in the 21st century, so you don’t actually have to be there to watch the debate live. Visit www.dailyinterlake.com at 5 p.m. today and you can see the debate streamed live. We hope you learn more about the three candidates and that this debate helps you make an informed decision at the ballot box.