Cardin vs. Steele - Meet the Press Debate Preview
The Meet the Press Senate Debate series comes to a close tomorrow morning with a debate that once seemed an anticlimactic ending to the series. NO LONGER! Tomorrow's MTP debate between Benjamin Cardin (D) and Michael Steele (R) could not come at a more pivotal time. The two are locked in a surprisingly tight race which Charlie Cook has moved from "Lean Democratic to Toss Up." Over the past week the race has received national attention stemming from Michael J. Fox's television ad supporting Cardin and the subsequent furor ignited by Rush Limbaugh.
In a pre-debate interview with an NBC affiliate in Baltimore, moderator Tim Russert pitched the MD-Sen race as a "battleground" and pledged that:
If Mr. Steele or Mr. Cardin refuses to answer the question, I will make that very clear to the viewers. My job is to elicit from these candidates their specific, exact positions on these issues.
All indications are that the debate will last the full hour which should give Russert plenty of time to accomplish his goal.
: MD-Sen, Benjamin Cardin, Michael Steele, Meet the Press
The "debate over debates" has been a consistent theme in this race with each candidate attempting to position himself as the candidate who favors debates. For example, Steele has
said that "Debates are important opportunities to have substantive discussions on issues affecting Maryland." As the Washington Post
notes:
The debate over debates has raged throughout the campaign, with the sides trading accusations. Cardin criticized Steele for not appearing onstage with him at two chamber of commerce forums and last weekend at the B'nai Israel Congregation's candidates forum in Rockville.
One earlier debate (10/25) on NewsChannel 8 has been described as a "shouting match" and the issues have included everything from Iraq and stem cell research to "trivial pursuit" over the proposed Purple line (an expansion of the Metro). The Steele campaign spun the debate this way.
"Direct engagement" between the candidates have so far been mainly limited to joint appearances. For example, an event in Annapolis has been described as "a not-so-close encounter" (10/20) with Steele departing after completing his remarks and Cardin charging that his opponent is ducking discussion of the issues. Another debate on 10-26 which was held in Waldorf, MD and sponsored by the NAACP never materialized when Cardin failed to show, citing "scheduling problems." This led the Steele campaign to charge that "Cardin Says Will Debate 'Any Time, Any Place' But Not NAACP."
The Cardin campaign countered by saying it agreed to debate at the NAACP state wide convention on 10/28.
One month ago, the organizers of the Maryland NAACP sent a letter to Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) and Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R-MD), inviting them to debate at this statewide conference in Baltimore City on Saturday, October 28.
Rep. Cardin accepted the invitation. Word is that Lt. Gov. Steele turned it down.
Will Michael Steele really turn down an invitation to debate before representatives from ALL of the local NAACP chapters?
"While Ben Cardin has participated in more than a dozen candidate debates, Michael Steele has been avoiding a real discussion on the issues for more than a year," said Cardin campaign spokesman Oren Shur. "The NAACP and its members are very important to Ben Cardin and that's why he has accepted an invitation to debate before the statewide convention on Saturday. We expect to see Michael Steele there."
As for Cardin's failure to appear at the earlier NAACP event, the Washington Post cites one expert who says that skipping that event was smart strategy:
With all the shouting and interruptions in the NewsChannel 8 debate Wednesday, Johns Hopkins University professor Matthew Crenson suggested that Cardin was wise to skip the NAACP forum in Charles. Steele and Cardin are preparing to face off in a high-profile debate Sunday with Tim Russert on MSNBC's "Meet the Press." "I think he's looking for that more-disciplined setting and doesn't want anymore episodes like the one last night," Crenson said yesterday.
Tomorrow morning should be very interesting.
