I must admit I was driving Mrs. Miller crazy last night.  As she was trying to watch normal television, I would not stop yelling, "Honey you have to see this!" If you watched last night's debate on PBS, you know what I'm talking about.  Forget Saturday Night Live, last night's debate was memorable for all the wrong reasons.  According to one of our candidates, our choice for governor is between a cowboy, a curmudgeon, a biker or a normal guy.  You'll have to guess which future governor said that gem.

Some blame Governor Otter for not debating Senator Fulcher one on one.  Others blame Harley Brown and Walt Bayes for not being serious candidates.  The fault falls squarely on Idaho Public Television for allowing Brown and Bayes to appear.  They're great guys and certainly command attention, but I doubt if they'll get one percent of the vote.  PBS knew this as anyone involved in politics knows that someone without money, organization, and experience will not earn your vote.

Sometimes in life you have to walk away.  In this case it would have better to have no debate than to be the butt of the daily show, comedy central, and all the other liberal shows that have a bias against a conservative state like Idaho.  No one in the local media will write or say this.  That's great, we'll own the issue.  I'd rather speak the truth than believe that last night's debate moved any issue forward.

Let's not leave out the Idaho Press Club and the League of Woman Voters who also participated in last night's flawed selection process.  These folks are supposed to represent the highest standards of journalism in the Gem State.  They dropped the ball because the press let the candidates dictate the rules of the forum. A free press dictates the rules not obeys what the politicians tell them.

I could go on and on, but I want to go back and watch more of last night's action.  Hopefully Mrs. Miller will forgive me.

 

 

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