Democratic gubernatorial candidate Walt Maddox invites Gov. Kay Ivey to debate, Ivey remains noncommittal
July 24, 2018Maddox calls for debate; Ivey team changes the subject
July 25, 2018OUR VIEW: Maddox trying to prod Ivey onto debate stage
Captain Ahab chased Moby-Dick because the infamous white whale chewed off his leg. Javert chased Jean Valjean because he thought stealing a loaf of bread was practically a capital offense, if not a mortal sin.
Supporters of Gov. Kay Ivey probably are looking at Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, her Democratic opponent in this year’s general election, in the same light as those fictional fanatics these days, given Maddox’s attempts to get Ivey to debate him.
We don’t think they should, even though Maddox certainly appears to be chasing the governor in a way, and part of the motivation for the pursuit is to draw focus to what realistically is an underdog campaign.
The thing is, Maddox has a point.
He has been talking about debates with Ivey since winning his party’s nomination, and this week formally challenged the governor to four such events, each lasting two hours.
One would be on economic development and education, another on health care, infrastructure and public safety. Two would be town hall-type events, in a larger city and a rural county, in which the public could interact with the candidates.
Maddox said his campaign is willing to discuss specific places and times to make this happen. Ivey doesn’t seem interested, which shouldn’t be surprising since none of her Republican primary opponents were able to flush her onto the debate platform, either.
Her strategy is straight out of Politics 101. She’s in a state where her party dominates the landscape. She has the advantage of incumbency, however brief, and is riding it like the political pro she is. She hasn’t been an activist governor, but she’s steadied things after her predecessor almost ran them into the Tennessee River (Alabama’s largest), if not all the way into the Gulf of Mexico, and lots of folks are drawn to the image of a steady hand at the tiller.
Ivey also has brought national politics into the picture, in a state where President Donald Trump remains extremely popular regardless of how he’s being hammered elsewhere. In response to one of his debate entreaties, she called Maddox out for not taking a position on Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. He countered by saying that the governor of Alabama’s position on a Supreme Court nomination basically was irrelevant. That’s a naive attitude in a state where lots of people are intensely focused on major national issues, especially social ones, and are hoping Kavanaugh will provide a deciding and game-changing vote on things like abortion rights which, for better or worse, get them more riled up than local pocketbook issues.
That doesn’t change our belief that Maddox has a point.
Debates and town halls, we’ve noted before, have become overblown and overdone in recent years, especially in presidential primary campaigns. However, once a race has reached the general election level, voters should have the chance to see the contenders for an office like governor on the same stage, making their cases both to audience members and viewers, and interacting with and challenging their opponents to see who stands up best under pressure.
Maddox is 28 years younger and admittedly more energetic than Ivey, who has presented a doctor’s letter that she is in good health, but turns 74 in October and looks her age. Of course he wants many (and lengthy) debates because it would emphasize his strengths and Ivey’s weaknesses.
