Incumbents should debate | Voters ought to hear from all candidates

The Tribune-Democrat

October 03, 2008 03:07 pm

— It is often said that all politics is local, and Wednesday night’s gathering in Somerset represented what campaigns should be all about.
Democrat Ken Warnick and Republican Carl Walker Metzgar, candidates in the 69th state House district, fielded questions from the audience and two moderators and discussed their positions on the issues affecting their region.
They sat together on the stage at Somerset Area High School and spoke directly to the potential voters.
And they took the time afterward to greet folks as they made their way out of the auditorium.
How refreshing!
This was the first of four debates co-sponsored by The Tribune-Democrat and WJAC-TV.
We appreciate that Metzgar and Warnick took an evening out of their busy campaigns to go before the voting public and talk about the issues.
And we look forward to three similar sessions, all set for 7 p.m. at Richland High School:
Tonight: Democrat Bryan Barbin and Republican Jim Rigby in the71st state House district.
Oct. 9: Republican Joe Veranese and Democratic incumbent John Wozniak in the 35th state Senatorial district.
Oct. 13: Democrat Frank Burns and Republican Chris Voccio in the 72nd state House district.
It is important that candidates put themselves before the people they hope to represent, field questions about their qualifications and discuss how they would tackle obstacles and get things done.
This is true of incumbents as well as newcomers.
Even those who have been in office for some time owe it to their constituents to make themselves available for events such as these debates – as well as dinners, forums, fairs and other gatherings.
That’s why we’re disappointed in our two incumbent congressmen.
Republican Bill Shuster in the 9th district and Democrat John Murtha in the 12th district have said they would not participate in debates against their opponents, Democrat Tony Barr and Republican William Russell, respectively.
The reasons could be busy schedules – with the economy demanding attention in Washington – or not wanting to give lesser-known opponents the publicity a debate might provide.
But we don’t buy either of those lousy excuses.
Incumbency does not give a candidate the right to dodge voters and the competition.
We hope the congressmen will reconsider.
Certainly, both the TV station and this newspaper would be willing to find dates and locations that work. No doubt the challengers would agree as well.