Answer the question? The art of political dodgeball

Sunday, October 23, 2022

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COMMENTARY

With the 2022 election cycle nearing its zenith, NonDoc’s journalists are racing to crank out general election articles and host the year’s final political debates.

Whether you are a voter who gleans meaningful information from debates or not, it’s important that they happen, and NonDoc has partnered with Griffin Communications to host 10 political debates in 2022. It’s critical for candidates to stand on stage together and answer fair but firm questions in a way that reminds us that politics involve more than TV ads, mailers and social media posts.

A good debate will also create some great soundbites, and the public got a few of them from this past week’s Oklahoma gubernatorial debate between incumbent Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and Democratic challenger Joy Hofmeister. Some questions were answered, others were not, and still others provided predictable opportunities for each candidate to jab their opponent — accurately or inaccurately.

Much like a boxing match, Wednesday night’s debate (embedded below) featured plenty of dodging as well, with each candidate not keen on answering a couple of key questions. Stitt did not want to discuss his decision to commute Julius Jones’ sentence, and Hofmeister did not want to discuss her alignment (or lack thereof) with the Oklahoma Democratic Party platform, or her beliefs regarding the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision’s potential impact on taxation jurisdiction.

Did we get at least some of the answers we were looking for? Yes, so you should read NonDoc’s recap and watch the full 90-minute debate, which featured a lot more than the 30-second clip that some national media helped blow up. I, for one, am glad these debates are held because, at the very least, they put a spotlight on the most important races for the future of our state.