Did you know that the League of Women Voters has a questionnaire that it sends to gubernatorial candidates?
If you answered no, it’s because, like most normal people, you have better things to do with your life than pretend to be interested in the nuance of Alabama’s uncompetitive gubernatorial race.
However, if you didn’t know any better and you picked up Sunday’s edition of the Anniston Star, you might have thought the League’s questionnaire was a big deal when you saw the screaming front-page headline: “The Empty Chair: Ivey declines debates – even when they’re just on paper.”
The story, by the Star’s Tim Lockette, takes a deep-dive into Ivey’s decision to ignore this questionnaire.
It’s not just the Anniston Star. On Saturday at the opening of her Mobile campaign headquarters, Mobile’s CBS affiliate WKRG 5 confronted Ivey about the questionnaire.
AL(dot)com’s Kyle Whitmire, who is fighting a war on dumb, also raised questions about Ivey’s refusal to answer the almighty questionnaire. In the piece, Whitmire acts dumbfounded (ha) about why Kay Ivey would blow off this kind of useless gesture yet still raise money for her campaign.
Was there a meeting that I missed?
Is there an Alabama version of the JournoList listserv to which I am not privy? Who sent out the memo calling for a full-court press about the League of Women Voters’ questionnaire? Apparently, democracy as we know it is hanging in the balance!
What’s the big deal, you might ask? It’s just a questionnaire. What’s the harm?
Funny you should ask. As it turns out, this much-ballyhooed questionnaire is short, but it includes some curious specifics – ones you probably wouldn’t expect from a so-called non-partisan group that just wants to engage voters.
Once you get beyond the first query, a generic question about “three priority issues,” the next question is about health care and “specifically” Medicaid. It’s almost as if no one or no political party in Alabama has talked ad nauseam about Medicaid expansion this election cycle (*cough* every Walt Maddox stump speech).
What’s next? Roads and bridges? Nah. Taxes? Nah. School safety? Nope.
You probably wouldn’t have guessed it, but another favorite left-of-center hobbyhorse — diversity.
“As the Alabama economy continues to grow and diversify, what specific actions will you take as Governor to ensure that Alabama is not actually or perceived as hostile to diverse cultures and beliefs to ensure continued economic growth and appeal to businesses?” the questionnaire posits.
Is there anyone headed to Tuscaloosa for an Alabama football game, pushing a grocery cart at Walmart in Roanoke or making the hour-drive from Selma to Montgomery for work who’s thinking, “You know what Alabama’s economy really needs? More cultural diversity.”
Next up: Climate change.
“As our climate changes, shifts in rainfall, increases in temperature, and sea-level rise will all have major impacts on economies and quality of life. What specific actions will you undertake to support Alabamians preparing for climate change?”
Do you see the trend here? Maybe Ivey is ignoring this questionnaire because she’s not interested in answering a questionnaire that might as well be used for the California gubernatorial election. Does Alabama’s chapter of the League of Women Voters interact with actual Alabamians?
Are they even that non-partisan?
In Lockette’s exhaustive analysis of this questionnaire crisis, he interviews League of Women Voters of Alabama (LWVAL) President Barbara Caddell, who says she is “mystified” by Ivey’s silence.
“I’ve had candidates say no,” Caddell said to the Star. “I’ve never had a candidate at this level that just never responded to me at all.”
A closer examination of Caddell’s social media does suggest she has a left-of-center bend. She is also applauded in notoriously liberal Alabama Arise 2018 annual report for being a “contributor.”
The LWVAL might be “non-partisan,” but it doesn’t appear the president of the organization is.
If Alabama political press is genuinely seeking answers as to why Ivey is blowing off debates and questionnaires, perhaps it should start with some self-examination.
The state’s media and these organizations pushing for these debate events aren’t politically neutral. They’re left-of-center outlets with editorial boards and leadership that have views that are way out of line with the mainstream of Alabama.
Why would Kay Ivey, up in the polls by at a minimum of double-digit percentage points, allow herself to be in a potentially hostile situation, or at one that includes gotcha questions about Medicaid and climate change?
If voters wanted a debate or answers to a questionnaire, then Ivey will pay the price on Election Day. An unlikely outcome, at this point.
Otherwise, these gestures decrying Ivey’s lack of availability and unwillingness to kiss a handful of political reporters’ rings seem like nothing more than bitterness over the media’s declining relevance in Alabama’s political process.
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and is the editor of Breitbart TV.
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