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“The Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC) pulled the plug on its televised interview with Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake after Arizona PBS unilaterally scheduled a separate interview with Democratic nominee Katie Hobbs, despite her refusal to participate in a debate… CCEC announced that it would postpone the Lake interview. CCEC officials noted that they had already rejected a proposal by Hobbs to change the debate to a town hall-style event in which each candidate would be interviewed separately.” Axios
Many on both sides criticize Hobbs for refusing to debate:
“[The] decision to run comes with an expectation that you will square off against your opponent – that you will lay out your policies and defend them. That you will show up and show us exactly why your hard-right opponent would be a disaster for Arizona. At a time when democracy is under attack, who better than Secretary of State Katie Hobbs to authoritatively debunk the centerpiece of Lake’s campaign, her evidence-free claim of a stolen election?…
“While Lake revs up an already energized base, Hobbs has often seemed invisible to the independents and moderate Republican women she will need if she wants to win this election. She’s got to give them a reason to want to turn out and vote for her. Facing Lake on Wednesday would have been her chance to do just that. Instead, the story is all once again all about her refusal to face her opponent. Hobbs isn’t just letting down Democrats; she may well be letting down Arizona.”
Laurie Roberts, Arizona Republic
“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Katie Hobbs running like a frightened sheep. During a town hall last week, Hobbs refused to take the stage until Lake had been escorted from the building. She didn’t even have enough spine to speak to the moderators in front of an audience if her opponent was even within eyesight…
“Voters have questions. Kari Lake shows up and answers those questions whenever she’s given the opportunity, from both liberal and conservative outlets alike. Katie Hobbs remains hidden as much as possible and dodges many questions. Voters elect governors to not only lead their state but to fight for them when it comes to seeking federal resources and defending the actions of the state. Particularly in the current era, a milquetoast leader likely won’t sell as well as a fighter. It shouldn’t be hard to see which of these candidates is which.”
Jazz Shaw, Hot Air
Other opinions below.
“There are several reasons why Hobbs would choose to steer clear of a debate. First, she may not want voters to discover just how liberal her positions are. Hobbs has said there should be no legal limits on abortion, for example… Hobbs has also described being ‘outraged’ at the Supreme Court ’s decision to strike down New York’s concealed carry gun law in June. That's not a comfortable stance to adopt in Arizona…
“Hobbs is uninspiring and totally devoid of charisma. The contrast with the fiery and unflappable Lake would only highlight Hobbs's shortcomings…
“[But] Debates are an integral part of the democratic process. A debate is essentially a job interview for a political candidate. Voters have every right to see how aspiring leaders react to hard questions and how they conduct themselves under pressure. No intelligent business owner would make an important hiring decision without interviewing a candidate first. Likewise, no voters should cast their ballots until they've completed their due diligence.”
Elizabeth Stauffer, Washington Examiner
“At a press avail on the campaign trail in Arizona, the Republican gubernatorial candidate got asked repeatedly about being an ‘election denier,’ part of the Democrats’ attempt to make ‘threats to democracy’ the main issue in the campaign. Lake knew it was coming, however, and had one of her staffers collate a few receipts from Democrats’ election denials over the last few years…
“[Lake stated] ‘This is from Joe Biden’s Press Secretary ‘remember Brian Kemp stole the gubernatorial election from Georgians and Stacey Abrams.’ A Democrat was saying that, is that an election denier?’… ‘Hillary Clinton: ‘Trump is an illegitimate President,’ is she an election denier? [This] says ‘was the 2016 election legitimate? It is definitely a question worth asking.’ That was the Los Angeles Times. So it’s okay for Democrats to question elections but it’s not okay for Republicans?’…
“Lake probably won’t win that argument to the point where the media narrative of ‘election denier’ goes away completely. She does show, however, how to deal with it.”
Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
"Lake responded [to questions about her allegations about the 2020 election] as most election deniers have so far — with some arcane and serious-sounding allegation that was debunked long ago. ‘We had 740,000 ballots with no chain of custody. Those ballots shouldn’t have been counted,’ said Lake, who promised to get supporting documentation to [CNN’s Dana] Bash’s ‘team.’ A claim that 74,000 ballots had been improperly handled didn’t withstand scrutiny last year. A CNN source told the Erik Wemple Blog on Monday that Lake hadn’t yet provided the supporting documentation…
“After Bash told Lake that her claim was baseless, the former Arizona TV news anchor hit back, saying: ‘The real issue, Dana, is that the people don’t trust our elections. They haven’t since 2000. I’m a reporter. I have been sitting on your side of the desk for a long time. And, since 2000, we have Americans who don’t trust our elections.’ That’s a bit of circular reasoning right out of the Sean Hannity playbook…
“Just days after the November 2020 election, Hannity riffed, ‘Now, tonight, millions of Americans, you do feel betrayed. According to Politico, look at this: 70 percent of Republicans, they don’t believe this election was free, fair, and for a good reason.’ That ‘good reason’ is that people such as former president Donald Trump, Hannity himself — and these days, Lake — hype the false idea that our elections are not free and fair.”
Erik Wemple, Washington Post
“We are right to be worried about the election-denying candidates who might win their races, as they can never be trusted to choose country over party. But what about the ones who lose, whether it’s the aforementioned Republicans seeking congressional seats or other I-win-or-they-cheated right-wingers vying to become secretaries of state or state attorneys general? Do you think they’re going to quietly accept the results? Of course not…
“There are hundreds – literally hundreds – of Kari Lakes running for office… Donald Trump lit a fire after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden and has stoked the flames of election denialism since. Those flames are about to hit dry tinder that threatens to set the whole country on fire.”
Rex Huppke, USA Today
