GOP Team Calls for Debates; Van Drew: League Format’s Fine

BURLEIGH — “We could have had the debate today, right now,” Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st) joked at the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce’s 24th Legislative Update, Thur., Aug. 18 at Wildwood Golf Club.
Accompanying him were Assemblymen Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam (both D-1st).
About 15 feet from the First District Legislative team sat the Republican trio of candidates, which seeks to un-seat the incumbents and take their places in Trenton: David DeWeese, senate candidate, Suzanne Walters and Sam Fiocchi, both assembly hopefuls.
There was no debate, the challengers remained mum as each incumbent rose to address the chamber; call it in-cumbent advantage.
Afterward, the GOP team, in a room just off the room where the Democrats spoke, focused on those campaign debates, drawing a line in the sand, or mud, perhaps.
The challengers made demands they hope would change past “vanilla exchanges that were choreographed.” They seek something more dynamic.
Speaking with his running mates at his side, DeWeese said the team “will debate our opponents anytime, any-where, but not in a way that provides no information to the voters.”
GOP debate criteria:
• At least one debate in each county in the district.
• Must have a wide open format.” After questions from sponsors, voters must be allowed to ask questions from the floor without screening.
• Candidates must be permitted to ask at least three questions of each other. “Let’s take a page from Abraham Lincoln and have some direct back and forth between the candidates.”
• At least one of the sponsors of the debate must broadcast the debate live on either radio or television and each campaign must be allowed to broadcast the debate over the Internet if it wishes.”
• Anyone may videotape or audiotape the debate and take photographs “as long as they don’t unnecessarily in-terfere with the debate.”
• Each debate is in town hall format so that the audience can participate directly with the candidates rather than having to just watch them sitting on a stage.”
“We want a clean, honest and open campaign. We want the voters to be involved. In short, we want this to be about the people we will represent, not about simply preserving the carefully crafted public image of the incumbents.”
Van Drew’s Response:
“To suggest that the League of Women Voters don’t have an honest, open debate process is ludicrous,” said Van Drew when informed of the Republicans’ debate criteria.
“Their (League) questions are carefully crafted,” he added. “The League of Women Voters doesn’t want nonsense.”
“They don’t allow name calling, physical or verbal attacks or mean-spirited behavior, nor should they,” Van Drew continued.
Of the allusion to the Lincoln-Douglass debates, he said they were “spirited and dealt with public policy, but there wasn’t name calling or physical or mental abuse.”
“I don’t know why they believe they can set the terms,” Van Drew said, “The League has its own protocol that favors neither Republicans nor Democrats, it just favors the product.
“I have never been afraid to debate. I must have debated (former state Senator) Nick Asselta nine or 10 times. The League does a wonderful job.”
Regarding the mandate to broadcast the debates, Van Drew said former debates were broadcast on WCZT-FM, “and maybe on the Internet.”
“I’m happy with the League of Women Voters, happy to have it recorded and on radio as it was the last time. I don’t have a problem with that. It has to be a radio station that is agreed upon. It can’t be their own radio station that will distort what one says, or turn the volume up or down, just a normal, commercial radio station. I have no problem with the Coast (WCZT) doing it,” Van Drew concluded.
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com