What, no debates here?

By Andrew McKeever

GNAT-TV News Project

It was hard to miss one fact that jumped off the page when the email arrived detailing where and when the 11 debates that will be held involving both Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and Sue Minter, the two major party candidates vying for the governorship.

Not one of the 11 will be held in Bennington County.

There will be one in Rutland, and another in Windsor County. All the rest will take place north of Route 4.

What gives? Is Bennington County that unimportant that not a single debate or gubernatorial forum could be held here?

Debates are tricky to organize, no question. There’s the issue of whether you have just the major party candidates, or open it to everybody who’s on the ballot. Providing security, adequate parking and handling questions from the audience all offer opportunities to make mistakes. But ultimately, it’s probably the best way we’ve figured out to help voters decide who they think is best suited for the state’s most important job.

According to the Scott campaign, no offers or requests came in from organizations in Bennington County to host such an event. If so, that’s a sad commentary on the organizations who might have been expected to host them. Most of the others will be hosted by media related  outlets. They include VTDigger, Vermont PBS, WCAX TV, WPTZ, Vermont Public Radio and the Vermont Press Association.

Once we learned of this situation and absorbed the fact that that we won’t be on the debate itinerary, GNAT offered to host one, here in the Northshire or in Bennington. However, we may have gotten to the party too late. In fact, that’s a virtual certainty, although we’ll be open to being pleasantly surprised and ready to roll if the chance comes.

That said, it’s highly disappointing that in the absence of a tendered offer from somebody credible, the campaigns didn’t reach out to see if some organization or another couldn’t be summoned to host one. We have a lot of issues to discuss down here, and both candidates need to hear about them.

Start with the economy. The Southern Vermont Economic Zone report, issued earlier this year said it best, if starkly: “Southern Vermont is in trouble.” It goes on to catalogue a series of indicators that point to an economy that’s not recovering all that quickly from the downturn of 2008-09, and could use some help from the state. if nothing else, the state could provide some financial lift to encourage the two southernmost counties, Windham and Bennington, to further unite behind a common agenda or Comprehensive Economic Strategy (CEDS).

There’s more. Bennington County is remarkably under-served compared to other counties when it comes to social services, and we have a nasty heroin problem here as well, like elsewhere in the state. And while Act 46 so far hasn’t led to some of the struggles over school choice towns merging effectively with other so-called “operating” towns (meaning they operate their own school), some of the hard decisions on that are still out there, pending.

We realize that many places  outside of Chittenden County (and even some within the greater Burlington area) could also make the same argument; namely, they have special problems that demand special attention, or at least some cooperation. But at least they’ll be looped in closely to the political discourse. And yes, of course, even in the southern hinterlands, we’ll be able to catch much of what gets said in all 11 debates, which include the one in Hartland on the 25th and one in Rutland on Sept. 28. All will no doubt to be covered heavily by the state’s press as well as on social media platforms.

But there’s really no substitute for an opportunity to sit in the audience and hear it all first hand, watch the body language, listen for the nuance, and see how the candidates handle a bit of pressure. And these debates are pressure situations. It’s not a natural environment, but they are a good window into the qualifications of candidates, particularly when it comes to an office like the governorship.

So if it’s too late, it’s too late, but still disappointing anyway. Just saying ……