West Virginia voters have the opportunity to learn more about the leading candidates for Governor over the next week. Republican Bill Cole and Democrat Jim Justice will meet in two face-to-face debates—the only two of the campaign.
The first debate is tonight at the Clay Center in Charleston, sponsored by the West Virginia Press Association and AARP. It will be broadcast on West Virginia Public Television and Radio. Public Broadcasting’s Ashton Marra is the moderator of the hour-long debate, which begins at 7 p.m.
The second debate is one week from tonight, also at the Clay Center. It is sponsored by the West Virginia Broadcasters Association and Citynet. It will air on commercial television and radio stations and the MetroNews Radio Network from 7 to 8 p.m. I will be the moderator.
The debate formats will be similar; the moderator will ask a question of a candidate, who will get a limited amount of time to respond. Then there will be a shorter time for the other candidate to offer a rebuttal. In both debates the candidates will be seated, even though Cole’s campaign has pressed for the candidates to stand behind podiums.
Third party candidates are not included in either debate.
We learned the other night with the Presidential debate that these face-to-face meetings still matter. An estimated 84 million people watched Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the most ever in the 60 year history of televised presidential debates.
The West Virginia gubernatorial debates don’t carry anywhere near the same weight as Trump v. Clinton, but they are profoundly critical for our state. West Virginia is in the midst of a historic economic downturn and voters need to have a better understanding of which candidate is best qualified to set a positive, realistic course for the future.
Yet, in terms of performance, a candidate does not want to get mired in the minutiae of his plans during the limited time available. As Colin Powell said, “Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers who can cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.”
So the challenge for Cole and Justice tonight and one week from tonight is not just to laundry list proposals and previous accomplishments—although they will be pressed for specifics—but rather to explain why they deserve the trust of the people.
That’s harder than it used to be because of voters’ growing dissatisfaction with all politicians and the political process. But this is our process and democracy is a participatory exercise. The candidates have agreed to do their part by meeting in two debates. We can do our part by watching and listening.