Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Wes Moore refuses debate invitation from Fox 5 in Maryland governor race


Democratic Maryland governor candidate Wes Moore has declined another invitation to debate his Republican opponnent, Dan Cox. Fox 5 announced last evening that Cox had accepted, but that the deadline to respond to the invitation passed without any response by the Moore campaign. Shortly after the deadline passed, a Moore spokesperson told the Bethesda-based TV station that their candidate's answer was, "no."

In dodging several debates, including one at a prominent HBCU in the state, Moore has said he does not want to give Cox a platform to more widely broadcast his views across the state. That hasn't stopped Cox from doing that on his own this week. The Donald Trump-endorsed Republican has stepped up attacks on Moore for not removing a false claim of being a Baltimore native from his book The Other Wes Moore, and exaggerating details in that biography, and has taken legal action to stop early counting of mail-in ballots ahead of the November election. Cox has received a significant amount of media coverage in recent days as a result.

With a new Goucher poll showing Moore ahead of Cox by 22 points, Moore understandably would like to run out the clock. One cannot make a campaign-damaging gaffe if one does not participate in debates. Critics question how a candidate might perform under the much greater pressure of serving in the office itself, if he or she is unable to debate their opponent. Moore has so far accepted one debate invite, to a forum being broadcast live October 12 by Maryland Public Television.

6 comments:

  1. "Dodging" is a rather loaded term. "Declining" would be more appropriate.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fox just sounds butthurt that public tv is getting the debate instead of them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Moore's policies are so weak and indefensible that he doesn't want them challenged.

    What Cox should do is set up a debate and have an empty podium to represent Moore, with a television set up on it to play videos of Moore's policies and recorded remarks. Cox could then "respond" to Moore and actually show a debate taking place.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cox is busy kissing the ring in Florida at his Trump sponsored fundraiser. Why does someone running for gov in Maryland need to go to Florida to fund raise?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't see it being any different from Moore going to the Hamptons and Martha's Vineyard to fundraise. Both are using whatever connections they have to raise sufficient funds for an expensive statewide race.

      Delete
  5. I’d like Wes Moore to tell me why I should vote for him and not why I shouldn’t vote for his opponent Dan Cox.

    ReplyDelete