Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.
Texas Republicans have spent decades cultivating the image that they’re tough hombres.
They pose with guns. They vow to fight Washington, cartels, socialists, wokeness and whatever else Fox News reports is menacing the republic. And if they’re Gov. Greg Abbott, they’ve even perfected squinting and scowling when they look into the camera.
But apparently there’s one thing both Abbott and Republican U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton would prefer not to confront: a big, bad Democrat behind a lectern.
With Election Day approaching, Abbott has yet to agree to debate his challenger, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, while Paxton hasn’t committed to debating his rival, state Rep. James Talarico.
That might be standard political calculation if both Republicans were cruising toward November with victory in the bag.
They ain’t.
Recent polls show Abbott’s once-comfortable advantage narrowing, with some even putting Hinojosa ahead. Paxton has even more reason to be alarmed: surveys have repeatedly shown Talarico leading, and some GOP members are privately saying primary voters picked the wrong guy.
Yet both Republicans remain conspicuously absent from the debate stage.
Paxton’s dodge is especially amusing. In July, after Talarico accepted three televised debate invitations, Paxton adviser Nick Maddux declared, “Of course we are going to debate James Talarico.”
July passed, then August. Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for the “of course” part.
Paxton rejected a CNN debate, complaining about biased moderators. So Talarico proposed Fox News’ Bret Baier instead.
Still no dice.
Candidates aren’t legally obligated to debate, and avoiding one can be smart campaign strategy. Why risk a bad answer, let your opponent land a zinger or expose your own propensity for gaffes?
But good campaign strategy isn’t necessarily good for voters. Or democracy.
Debates are one of the few places candidates, however polished they are at rallies and staged media events, are forced to answer the same questions, at the same time — and without someone editing out all the embarrassing shit.
Which is exactly why voters expect to see candidates face off on the debate stage, according to Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson.
“Even if voters have decided not to watch, not to pay any attention, at least they’ve been respected enough that the candidates were willing to stand up in debate,” Jillson told the Current. “To simply decline to debate is potentially an insult to the electorate. And I think one of the problems that Republicans have in Texas now is the sense of entitlement on their part. … And that’s one of the reasons I think that these races are close up and down the ticket.”
Abbott and Paxton spend plenty of time talking about fighting for Texas. Maybe these two assclowns should put their money where their mouths are and face their opponents.
No lawsuits, no National Guard deployments, no threats to shut down Sharia law — just two lecterns, a moderator and a few cameras.
Or is showing that level of courage too much to ask?
