Why don't loccal politicians have political debates?
Hi:
Does anyone know why so few local politicians challenge each other to political debates? I think if local politicians challenged each other to political debates during the political campaign, it would show the voters what the candidates are really like.
What do you think?
farmall806
And what about campaigning door to door like they used to do? I have not heard of a candidate campaigning door to door in years. All I ever see of the local politicans campaigning efforts are a few campaign signs posted on people's front yards and a simple political campaign ad in a local newspaper that basicaly says "vote for me" .
farmall806
Debates would be a good idea, unfortunately, I don't think any towns do that. I know we don't. I am very involved with politics here in Collins, and our candidates still go door to door from all parties. We also try to have at least one or two functions (spagetti dinners or Chicken BBQ's) that people can come to and meet the candidates. Most candidates in small towns already have a job and it makes it difficult to find time to campaign. Ours go out on evenings and Saturdays.
we get swamped with the door to door people during election season on the west side. There are so many of them sometimes they come down the strret at the same time.Originally Posted by farmall806
People who wonder if the glass is half empty or full miss the point. The glass is refillable.
All that happens in Amherst.
I think most municipalities have "candidates nights," where each candidate stands up, gives his/her platform and then is ask questions submitted to the League of Women Voters.
I don't know if they debate in the sense of actually taking each other on regarding their positions. And getting incumbents to agree to such debates is usually hard. They have too much to lose.
Does anyone remember if Grelick ever went toe-to-toe with Mohan in a debate before the election?
..because they'd expose themselves as incoherant?
When a Presidential debate takes places it's for 90 minutes.
How long would you expect a councilman debate to last. I think you'd be lucky to come up with a half hour worth of questions.
Because they have nothing relevant to say?
Or they might accidentally say the truth:
Candidate #1: "I'm running for office so I can hide behind a desk for 4 years (but I'm hoping for 16... cha-Ching!) and collect a salary that's 4 times what taxpayers make! If you vote for me, I'll raise your taxes even more, and spend it on myself and huge salaries for all my friends. Thank you."
Candidate #2: "I'm running for office because I need a stepping stone to move onto a real job. I don't give two _____ about this town, but I need to put more on my resume. OH yeah and I'll giveyouanewwaterfront and generate5millionnewjobs and makebuffalothenextchicago and whatever else you suckers will fall for just as long as you vote for me. Thank YOU.
Candidate #3: "I'm a local WNY'er with real experience and some great ideas to turn this region around and fight the Albany beauracracy.... but... the party offered me tons of money and some swanky job if I just shut up and go away. So... I'm outta here. Sorry Buffalo... er I mean Thank You."
I can understand why you would think that way. Unfortunately, this type of negative thinking (I'm not trying to take a shot at you) really kills this area.
If anyone really wants to try and make a difference, they are automatically placed in one of the three above categories.
Why would anyone then want to run for office with that automatic stereotyped image?. There are people, and I would like to believe that I am one, who would like to make a difference. They pretty much stand a snowballs chances in hell , when they find themselves set upon by what Steven accurately calls the "Woe is me" crowd. As a community we lose year after year.
Last edited by mikewrona; April 25th, 2006 at 10:59 AM.
That is true.
I was very pissed with the Buffalo Mayoral election. The local media IMMEDIATELY focused in on the 2 main parties and virtually ignored everyone else running. There was also games going on with the Board of Elections where some of the candidates had to spend most of September fighting just to stay on the ballot, instead of spending their time campaigning.
The system here is screwed up. Not just the official system, but the media too, and the voters themselves. Everyone (well.. everyone that actually votes, which isn't that many)... Everyone just files into the booth and looks for the "R" or "D" and ignores what they're really doing. And the local media (print and tv) is pure FLUFF. The questions they ask are less direct than a high-school newspaper.
And there's a lot of the "who cares" attitude around here too. But I think 50 years of being screwed tends to do that to people. I thought a change was possible for buffalo with this election, but now we got Brown in there and it looks like the next 4 years will be wasted opportunity with him just sitting there... doing nothing except traveling to out-of-town conferences and calling that work.
It's very easy to kill political excitement in this town.
Getting back on topic with your Debate idea... they did have a couple debates for the mayor race. That was virtually the only time to hear the rest of the candidates. Much better than reading the snews, or watching Ch.2
I think they could have done more to promote the meeting though. I always found out about them the day before.
According to LHardy, it's because they're gay.
Debates? Door to door?
Hey, these are staples of the american political scene.
Mike Cole, the Alden Town Supervisor who is running for the NY State Assembly in the special election next week, is doing a lot of door to door. Last week, he was walking in East Aurora with Jack Quinn III (the Assemblyman). I think he is also going with other local leaders in the different towns.
People want to meet the person running for office. That's why they go to all those chicken dinners and pancake breakfasts! Door to door is a staple, and the candidate who avoids it often avoids winning.
Many community groups sponsor debates, such as Chambers of Commerce, Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis Clubs. Sometimes at the local schools, etc. Nothing unusual.
you will find a great many times and venues that give you the chance to see the candidates meet and greet you whether it's door to door or a question and answer period that is the closest you'll see to a debate because of the number of seats that are available for elections and number of people running. It's more than likely you'll see the clarification of some points on the issues in which each candidate is for and how they differ from thier ideological opponent.
"All government, -indeed, every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act,- is founded on compromise..." -Edmund Burke
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910), (attributed)
Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004 George W. Bush
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