Office Holders Skip Re-Election Debates Chenoweth, Kempthorne Can Afford To Leave Forum Chairs Empty

When congressional wannabe Dan Williams went debating in North Idaho on Wednesday night, he did the rhetorical dance with an empty chair.

His opponent, two-term incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth, says she never received the invitation to the candidates forum, sponsored by United Vision for Idaho and other groups.

She wouldn’t have been there anyway.

“That particular night, we had other events scheduled,” said Jim Gambrell, Chenoweth’s campaign manager.

Robert Huntley, Democratic candidate for Idaho governor, is having even more dismal luck getting to take on his opponent face-to-face. The Boise attorney and former Idaho Supreme Court Justice is taking a miniature red chair to a series of 10 debates to emphasize that his opponent, U.S. Sen. Dirk Kempthorne, refuses to join him at the podium.

The single exception is the traditional debate sponsored by the Idaho League of Women Voters and the Idaho Press Club in late October.

But being a no show won’t hurt these candidates, political analysts say. It’s great strategy.

“When one candidate, usually the incumbent, feels comfortably far ahead, they try to keep it (debating) to a minimum,” said Randy Stapilus, publisher of Idaho Public Affairs Digest and other political publications.

“A debate, after all, is an opportunity to screw up, and the more debates there are, the more opportunities there are to screw up,” Stapilus said. “And that’s what people remember - the gaffes.

“If you are a challenger, or way behind, you have less to lose.”

What makes this year’s dearth of debates more interesting is that Kempthorne debated his 1992 U.S. Senate opponent, Richard Stallings, eight times. A single debate, with a panel of reporters asking questions, rarely forces candidates to go beyond the canned sound bites, Stapilus said. More makes a big difference.

“By the fourth or fifth debate, there’s more thinking on your feet, more thinking through what you are saying.”

James Weatherby, a Boise State University political scientist, agrees.

“Many candidates would prefer to rely on their handlers and canned messages rather than an hour of extempora neous remarks,” Weatherby said.

“Why would you want to open yourself up to embarrassing questions or to debating a point to which you cannot respond?”

Both Kempthrone and Chenoweth deny avoiding risk is their motivation, instead blaming a lack of time.

Chenoweth has agreed to four debates with Williams, although only two appear certain. She’s rejected Williams’ challenge to have five more.

By the time Congress adjourns in October, she will have just three weeks to campaign. “In a campaign, you fill it up with other things too,” Gambrell said.

“The senator’s schedule is quite different now than when he was running for Senate,” Jeff Malmen of the Kempthrone campaign said of the lack of debates. “The senator is spending a lot of time moving around the state, talking to and, more importantly, listening to the voters and their concerns. Which is more important than sitting in the room with an opponent.”

Citizens are just as capable of asking the tough questions and may get more out of the one-on-one time, Malmen said.

Weatherby disagrees.

“I think there’s a lot of people who feel it’s important to see candidates on the same stage, as a way of comparing two people,” he said.