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WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 21, 2022

by Bill Nigut

Can a debate be a debate?

 
For months, Sen. Raphael Warnock called out Herschel Walker for his apparent reluctance to agree to a debate. The Warnock team believes that in a one-on-one setting, Walker will be revealed as woefully ill-prepared to be a member of the U.S. Senate; and they believe Walker could easily make a nonsensical statement on the order of his insistence that Georgia already has too many trees.
 
But now that a Senate debate to be held in the studio of Savannah TV station WSAV has been confirmed for Oct. 14, the question is this: Has the bar for Walker’s performance been set so low that he merely needs to avoid making a major misstep to be seen as competent?

Walker himself has contributed to this scenario, telling a crowd recently that “I’m not that smart … (Warnock) is going to show up and embarrass me at the debate Oct. 14.”
 
Walker could benefit from the format WSAV creates for the showdown. I hope they’ll avoid the standard approach to debates that TV stations typically employ. For a long time I’ve argued that the strict time frames, and the panels of multiple questioners used for most debates prevent voters from seeing robust and thoughtful interactions among the candidates. 
 
I favor debates that give candidates room to exchange ideas more freely and without the interference of the strict time clock rules that inhibit real conversation. Why not toss out a question and let the candidates — you know — debate it among themselves? (Yes, some rules are needed to prevent an out-of-control mud fight.)
 
Debates that feature several journalists asking questions without regard for continuity creates a scattershot approach that can prevent any issue from being explored in depth. Why not have one moderator ask the questions and follow up on answers that need additional explication? That’s now the standard structure for the general election presidential debates.
 
The debate between Warnock and Walker could have a major impact on the final weeks of the race. Let’s hope the candidates operate in a format that really allows them to reveal themselves and their approach to issues.
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HEADLINES

Talking to the top of the ticket: Kemp and Abrams campaigns dish on Election 2022

On GPB's Political Rewind, Stacey Abrams' campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo talked about the differences in Abrams' platform this time around.

Lauren Groh-Wargo, campaign manager for Stacey Abrams, said the campaign is viewing its potential voters as "persuasion voters." 

  • "When you look at Biden's approval and the entire conversation, it's that Black voters, like white voters, like Latino voters, want to know what the plan is to deliver for their families and there is frustration on that," she said. "We need to work for their vote, just like we work for anyone else's vote."
Read More
On GPB's Political Rewind, the Communications Director for Gov. Brian Kemp's campaign, Cody Hall, says more legislation surrounding abortion would not be a priority if Kemp was re-elected.

Meanwhile, Gov. Brian Kemp's Communications Director Cody Hall acknowledged the impact the overturning of Roe v. Wade has had on the election, including in Georgia with its controversial "heartbeat bill." Kemp has said for now he is not pursuing additional legislation.

  • "We don't plan on implementing new legislation," Hall said. "The governor has been pretty clear that his intent has been on implementing and defending the 'heartbeat bill.'"
Read More
OTHER HEADLINES
  • Video shows 'unauthorized access' to Georgia election equipment

    A Republican Party official in Georgia told a computer forensics team to copy components of the voting system at a rural elections office two months after the 2020 election and spent nearly all day there, contradicting her sworn deposition testimony about her role in the alleged breach of the equipment, a new court filing says.

    The filing late Monday is part of a broader lawsuit challenging the security of the state's voting machines that has been drawn into a separate investigation of former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his loss in Georgia. The apparent breach happened on Jan. 7, 2021, the day after a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to stop the certification of the election.


  • Georgia’s public referendum law at stake as spaceport fight reaches state Supreme Court 

    Union Carbide’s decision to back out of a land deal for a Camden County spaceport has sparked more lawsuits ahead of next month’s Georgia Supreme Court hearing of a challenge to a public vote that has scuttled the project for now.

    Attorneys representing the county and a group of residents are set to argue before the state’s supreme court on Oct. 6 whether a March voter referendum blocking the spaceport is legal. When Union Carbide said it no longer intended to sell the former industrial site to the county to build the spaceport, it set off legal action that has led to the county fighting back and environmentalists demanding the release of reports that would further expose the risky and expensive rocket launch venture.


  • Puerto Rico has lost more than power. The vast majority of people have no clean water

    The vast majority of Puerto Rican homes have been plunged into darkness after Hurricane Fiona wiped out the power grid, but people on the island are facing another devastating emergency: How to access clean water?

    With no electricity, there's no power to run filtration systems and no power to pump water into homes. That means no clean water for drinking, bathing or flushing toilets.

    As of 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday, more than 760,000 customers of the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority had no water service or were suffering significant interruptions, according to the government's emergency portal system.



Brian Kemp's communications director Cody Hall talks 2022 strategy


Today's show:

New polling from the AJC shows Gov. Brian Kemp with an eight-point lead over Stacey Abrams. Democrats have run on preventing further abortion restrictions. Will Kemp seek further abortion restrictions? Herschel Walker's Senate campaign doesn't enjoy the same support in polls that Kemp receives. Kemp says he stands by Walker regardless.


On the panel:

  • Cody Hall, @CodyHallGA, director of communications, Kemp for Governor
  • Greg Bluestein, @bluestein, political reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
 
UPCOMING SHOWS
  • Thursday on Political Rewind: GPB's Riley Bunch joins the show.
     
  • Friday on Political RewindRetired AJC columnist Jim Galloway joins the panel.

The GA Today Politics newsletter is written by Bill Nigut and Sarah Rose and edited by Kristi York Wooten and Khari Sampson

Thank you for sharing your time with us. Feel free to send us feedback at GAtoday@gpb.org.

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