[Editor’s Note: The following events did not happen, nor are they a prediction of what might happen. They were invented in the writer’s mind as a hypothetical to make a point.]
MONTGOMERY, Oct. 9, 2018 – With less than a month before Election Day, voters got their last look at the gubernatorial candidates before heading to polls Tuesday night at the RSA Activity Center.
Republican nominee Gov. Kay Ivey and Democratic nominee Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox went head-to-head for the first and only time this election cycle in a cordial, but sometimes contentious debate.
The two candidates laid out their policy visions for the state of Alabama for the next years, none of which has any possibility of ever fully being enacted given the likely make-up the state legislature over those next four years.
Things got testy when Maddox raised questions about Ivey’s physical fitness for office, which resulted in boos from Ivey supporters in the audience.
However, Ivey responded to Maddox’s query in a Reagan-esque manner.
“I will not stoop to my opponent’s level and raise questions about his callow youthfulness and inexperience at the upper echelons of state government.”
If polling is accurate, Maddox has an uphill fight to win next month’s contest. However, many of his supporters note that Doug Jones had a similar uphill battle in his election against Roy Moore in last year’s U.S. Senate special election.
“You better head inland Republicans!” Maddox surrogate Chip Hill tweeted. “There’s a #BlueWave a-comin’ and @WaltMaddox is riding it on a surfboard! #KowabungaDude #alpolitics”
If Maddox is able to pull off the upset, he will be the first Democratic governor Alabamians have elected since Don Siegelman two decades ago.
The story of the Kay Ivey-Walt Maddox debate will probably never be written because it probably won’t happen. But if that debate did happen, would it change anything?
When in Alabama politics has the gubernatorial debate mattered?
A gubernatorial debate is not like the presidential debates, which are broadcasted on every network and cable news channel. Would an Ivey-Maddox debate even be televised beyond Alabama Public Television on prime time television? If there are few eyeballs tuned in, how many votes does the debate impact?
Sure, in a perfect world we would have the clash of these two titans. We would go through the tedious process of showing how a Democrat is different from the Republican.
But Ivey has no “duty” to debate Maddox. Her objective is to win, not put on a made-for-TV debate to check a box on a made-up list. Sorry, Walt.
It is confounding as to why the Maddox campaign thinks this is the end-all, be-all issue that will make him competitive. Even Phillip Tutor, the commentary editor for the left-of-center Anniston Star has questioned the wisdom.
“Maddox is swinging [the debate invitation] like a cleaver, hitting Ivey hard and often, hoping enough Alabamians (translation: moderate Republicans who can stomach voting for a dreaded Democrat) come to see her refusal to debate as a weakness,” Tutor wrote in a July 24 column. “It won’t work.”
He’s right about Maddox needing Republican voters to win in Alabama. Running on this nebulous idea that a debate is a cure-all seems more like a crutch, and perhaps it will make for a good excuse when a potential landslide defeat comes.
But if you’re serious about winning, it’s time to move on to Plan B.
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and is the editor of Breitbart TV.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.