And in May, Thad Cochran said “This is not a debating society,” Cochran said explaining his decision not to debate McDaniel. “This is a race for the United States Senate.”
This is a recent trend that I date back to the townhall meetings of 2010 that really woke up the conservative base. Remember when Arlen Specter was shouted down during a townhall meeting during his last run at the Senate?Well, now all politicians are avoiding the townhall event, instead opting for "virtual" townhalls held over conference calls on telephones.
And now they are avoiding public debates, too.
Debates are going to be a thing of the past for our aging ruling class. Count on it.
-PJ
Good observation.
While touting ‘democracy’ in every made-for-TV rambling senate floor speech, the trend has been toward less accountability to, and contact with, voters.
Senators work for party, not state interests. There is no practical need to read and understand pending bills when party leadership dictates votes. As Cochran knows, blind party loyalty means embarrassing confrontations with voters during election season. It has become politically safer to take the heat and avoid public contact with voters.
This is republican government?