(NJ-Sen) Just sticking to the debate schedule, I tuned in to WABC-TV for the second scheduled installment (not live per TV station restrictions) to be totally surprised--Repub Senate Candidate Thomas Kean Jr. at the last minute refused to participate live in the debate!
As a NJ voter, who reads the local papers, I was still surprised--I didn't see anything in the local papers about this--and of course since the "debate" is pre-taped, this should have been news at the time of the taping.
Even better, in the first few minutes of the now one-sided debate segment with TV news reporter Diana Williams (who's asking tough questions, so no one's tossing softballs here) asks about the charges in Kean's ads (jump!)
And in Menendez's answer, which takes a minute or two to go through, it becomes evident on the facts that Kean Jr's ads alleging corruption are a total lie. This is a major good development for Menendez, IMO, as it totally debunks Kean Jr's allegations.
The debate is being split into two parts, and Kean Jr's is coming up. But as I have said in the past, Kean Jr. is a stumbling, bumbling public speaker, and would fare poorly in a public debate. This tactic may be based on his miserable performance in the last live debate. I'm tuning in to reporter Anthony Johnson now...more later....
OK, so the second half of the "debate" took place in Tom Kean Jr.'s Paramus, NJ, campaign office. Reporter Anthony Johnson did the questioning, and asked Kean Jr. about the "corruption charges" Kean Jr made about Menendez. Kean repeated the charges made in his ads (which we now know were debunked completely in the first segment), but Anthony Johnson did not make a point about how false the charges were. The interview featured Kean Jr. sitting in front of one of his own campaign signs, which means that ABC news must have lost control of the seating arrangement. But, IMO, even solo Kean Jr.'s speaking style came through as a very painful episiode of his trademark stumbling, bumbling style. The main thing Kean Jr. will seem to do, in his opinion, is to "focus" on issues in D.C. Kean Jr. juggled the word focus so many times it seemed to be a nervous tic. Even on his own imposed terms, Kean Jr. is a horrible public speaker.
Reporter Anthony Johnson asked Kean Jr about the war in Iraq, and Kean stuck with the stay the course position, but criticized everything done previously, saying in essence the US did not go in with enough troops, did not secure the borders, should not have DeBathified, etc. But, wasn't that the course that Bush wants the US to be staying on? Kean Jr. tried to weasel around the position, but basically he's pro war, only he keeps saying he wants to get the troops out "as soon as humanly possible." He said that about six times, more like a nervous tic in public speaking.
In the interview, Kean Jr. did state clearly that, in response to the Foley sex with Congressional intern scandals, that Kean Jr asked for House Speaker Denny Hastert to step down. I haven't heard that Hastert has stepped down yet, so it's not clear that Kean Jr's opinion will carry a lot of weight in D.C. power circles.
So, despite having to work harder at pulling out their positions, ABC's tag-team "debate" did manage to cover the main issues.
As perspective, the segment included an interview with a pollster from the Fairleigh Dickinson University Public Mind Institute. He noted that the race was tight, with Menendez 5 points ahead now in the polls, which is within the margin of error. The pollster noted that if the campaign gets nastier, that would tend to reduce voter turnout. His projection currently is that voter turnout for the mid-term election in NJ would be about 42 percent.
Another reason to energize the people you know to get out the vote.
That concludes my entry today into the election race diaries.