From Pittsburgh to Portland, from Denver to Detroit, multiple debates in consequential races have been the norm.
Until now. With carefully crafted social media messaging, candidates across the country, namely in close races, have been more hesitant to take part in multiple debates.
The pundits argue they have nothing to gain, and a lot to lose, when they appear in front of a variety of moderators who, with varying degrees of intensity, may ask questions and follow-ups. Those follow-up questions have seemed to fall to the wayside. Holding candidates to account is a prerequisite, but it seems to have become oddly, non-existent.
We are committed to breaking the old-school format.
The debates of yesterday don’t allow for actual truth seeking. Most debate organizers
are more loyal to the clock than the truth.
We all need to do better. This chaotic political cycle allows Democrats and Republicans to spout off multiple mistruths at rapid-fire pace. In today’s political environment, the old school debate has become as outdated as an AOL email account.
Some things age well. These debates have not.
Debates shouldn't be optional
At Fox 2, we determined it was time to shake things up. There’s a way to be fair, give everyone an equal shot at making their points, while really digging, in real time. To probe. To discover. To lift the curtain on political talking points to find the ethos of what these candidates believe. We have done that, this political season. It’s raised some eyebrows, gotten us some praise and, yes, some criticism.
We believe multiple debates shouldn’t be optional.
These politicians are gunning for jobs that make them public servants. They serve at the pleasure of the people. People, in this town, watch local news. Candidates owe their time to the voters to have real conversations that offer more than the rehearsed zingers we already saw on social media. So, we put the invitations out, with 40 days notice, for our U.S. Senate debate. We planned the Sept. 15 date because it was before early voting opened up, giving people a chance to see Rogers and El-Sayed, without filter, before they vote.
The time is right.
The door is still open
We have a microphone and podium here at Fox 2 waiting for U.S. Senate candidates Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed. The debate is set for 7 p.m. There is still time. We will welcome Rogers, despite his team’s press release rejecting our invitation.
They cited clips from various shows I’ve hosted to assert bias. Our nightly political show has had moments of praise and criticism for Rogers and El Sayed. This is not personal. I have interviewed Rogers multiple times on TV, and on stage at a forum when he ran against now-U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin. There was no issue then. We have no issue now.
We want to do a debate with Rogers and El-Sayed. This is not a challenge, but an opportunity for both candidates to speak to Southeast Michigan and the 5 million people in our viewing area.
One of the features of our event tonight will include a chance for viewers to text questions directly to me. It is one hour of time we hope the Rogers team will see value in, despite citing reasons to reject our invitation at the eleventh hour. Perhaps the twelfth hour will bring a welcome surprise.
Not for us, but for the voters.
Roop Raj is the evening anchor and host of The Pulse on FOX 2 News. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters, and we may publish it in print or online.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: When candidates avoid debates, voters lose | Opinion
