Report Card: Grading the AL-06 candidates' debate performance

Alabama 6th Congressional District candidates take the stage for the NBC13/Superstation 101 debate March 31, 2014.

First off, it’s important to put debates in the proper perspective. Can a a great debate performance win you a congressional race? No. But can a disastrous performance lose you a congressional race? Sure. This is usually true on the presidential level as well. Newt Gingrich only briefly shot to the top of the polls during the 2012 GOP presidential primary, propelled by catchy one-liners and his relentless assault on the mainstream media during the debates. On the other hand, Rick Perry’s entire campaign is remembered for one moment of forgetfulness while everyone was watching.

The stakes obviously weren’t anywhere near that high last night. But it was televised, and any epic blunder would have been captured on camera. So most candidates took the primum non nocere approach — “first, do no harm.”

I watched the full debate in person from about 15 rows back on the right side of the auditorium. I also captured the audio and re-listened to the entire debate once last night and again this morning.

In alphabetical order, here are my thoughts on each candidate’s performance:

Sen. Scott Beason — Grade: B

Beason was Beason — nothing more, nothing less. You know what you’re going to get from the senator from Gardendale, and that’s become part of his pitch.

“You can know what I’m going to do in Congress by what I’ve done in the state legislature,” Beason said during his opening remarks, a refrain he repeated in different variations throughout the night. He was positioned in the very center of the stage and is a fairly imposing presence physically. But although he has earned a reputation for being a Tea Party firebrand, his delivery is actually not that aggressive. Based on the feedback I’ve gotten, his matter-of-fact tone translated well to the television audience.

His best moment of the night came when Leland Whaley asked the candidates whether they would take a “Jeff Sessions approach” or a “John Boehner approach” to address illegal immigration. “I don’t think there’s a single person here who doesn’t know where I stand on immigration,” Beason quipped to laughter and applause.

Side note: that question from Whaley also led to this:

Candidates currently trying to one-up each other when it comes to the total number of conversations they've had with @SenatorSessions #AL06

— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) March 31, 2014

Will Brooke — Grade: A-

Brooke delivered a very steady performance last night. He stayed on message, but didn’t feel over-rehearsed.

There was a random drawing prior to the debate that determined how the candidates were arranged on stage. Coincidentally, Brooke was positioned next to Rep. Paul DeMarco, who will likely be his primary rival throughout the race. Brooke got the best of this round.

His recent viral ad has made it more difficult for his opponents to paint him as a stiff Mountain Brook executive. Last night he continued to come across as very approachable and did an excellent job communicating his personal story.

On top of that, in a savvy campaign move, Brooke bought out pretty much every block of advertising time during the debate with these two ads:

Paul DeMarco — Grade: C

DeMarco had a bit of a tough night. The natural tone of his voice is not well suited to delivering an impactful debate performance, and at times it felt like he was overcompensating by simply speaking louder than the other candidates. Several people that I spoke with who were watching on television commented that DeMarco did not come across well.

That said, he did absolutely nothing to significantly damage his standing as the race’s frontrunner. As a matter of fact, he went straight from the debate to a well-attended fundraiser, which frankly goes a lot further toward getting him elected than any debate performance could.

Chad Mathis — Grade: C

Chad Mathis is a doctor. If you weren’t aware of that going into last night’s debate, you certainly know now. Mathis’ singular message is that no one could better understand the detrimental impact ObamaCare is having on the economy and healthcare than a physician who has to deal with it every day.

CHAD MATHIS IS A DOCTOR!!!!!! #al06 #whoknew?

— Matt Murphy (@mattmurphyshow) March 31, 2014

Mathis looked very uncomfortable on stage, but honestly he’s improved significantly since he started campaigning last year shortly after Bachus announced he would not seek another (12th!) term. He also gets points for rolling out a specific 12-point plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, which you can read HERE.

Gary Palmer — Grade: B

Palmer has complete command of the issues. As he pointed out numerous times during last night’s debate, he’s been working in public policy for the last couple of decades. That gives him a leg up on the competition, but also makes it difficult for him to boil his answers down into talking-point-sized morsels.

“What we need to talk about are solutions, not soundbites,” Palmer said. That’s a good line, and certainly every political race could stand to spend more time talking about the actual issues, but in the fast-paced world of modern media — and especially in a debate setting — Palmer’s going to have to get better at getting to the point. I’m also not sure that having the best national network of policy wonks is a pitch that gets someone elected to congress.

But last night Palmer effortlessly spoke in great depth about a wide range of issues — from energy policy and immigration to foreign affairs. If he can continue raising money and keep refining his message, he’ll still have an outside shot.

Robert Shattuck — F, for FUN

A friend of mine who works at a record label in L.A. always says that if he’s going to see a new band, he wants them to either be incredible, or absolutely awful. Anything in between is boring.

Well, Robert “Robot” Shattuck was a lot of things in last night’s debate, but boring was certainly not one of them.

Shattuck basically refused to debate because he claimed none of the candidates would talk about the one issue on which he’s basing his entire candidacy: the “dysfunction congress.” For every one time Chad Mathis noted that he was a doctor, Shattuck blasted the “dysfunctional congress” twice.

Shattuck had two of the best lines of the entire night, though. At one point he was given one minute to answer a question, but instead simply said, “I don’t know.” Another time he basically said he’d leave the answer to one question to people a lot smarter than himself. Points for honesty!

The job I now want: Whoever is standing behind Shattuck winding the crank before each answer. #Al06 #Monotone #Robot?

— Trey Edwards (@TreyEdwardsAL) March 31, 2014

During commercial breaks, while the rest of the candidates moved around the stage and interacted with each other, Shattuck stared straight ahead and clutched the debate podium with a white-knuckled death grip.

I want to go on record as supporting Rob Shattuck. Mainly because I don't want him to eat my family. #AL06

— Matt Murphy (@mattmurphyshow) March 31, 2014

This was my first Shattuck experience. The next one can’t come soon enough.

Tom Vigneulle — Grade: A

There were several times sitting in the debate hall last night that I thought to myself, “My goodness… Tom Vigneulle is the most impressive guy on the stage.” If you’d asked me who won the night, I would have said Vigneulle in a heartbeat.

He was calm, but assertive. He did a great job honing in on the importance of small businesses. He explained why he was the most qualified candidate to take on ObamaCare, saying, “I didn’t pass the bill, I didn’t read the bill, I’ve lived the bill.” Even after listening back to the audio a couple of times, I don’t really have any specific criticism of his performance.

Tom Vigneulle is really comfortable on stage. Owning the small businessman space right now. #alpolitics #AL06

— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) March 31, 2014

Interestingly though, several people that I spoke with who were watching on television said his performance didn’t translate well in that medium. That’s more important than how he came across in the room, because there were presumably a lot more people were watching on TV than were actually there.

The whole experience made me wish Vigneulle was running for state house, or some other local or county-level position. He would outclass much of the competition at that level, and would be able to raise the money needed to be a serious contender.

But he’s pushing forward. His campaign announced yesterday that he had been endorsed by Tim Selaty, the founder of TeaPartyCommunity.com.

We were able to grab a few of the candidates for a quick video interview right after the debate. I tried to find them all, but will have to catch some of them next time.