Recently the buzz around the California Republican Party has been a demand for a debate between the major candidates for statewide office at the upcoming California Republican Party Convention taking place next month.

First there was the Young Republican Federation of California calling for a debate at the convention via an email communication earlier this week (Disclosure – I am a YRFC member).  Now Flashreport publisher and CRP Vice Chairman South, Jon Fleischman is conducting a survey of CRP Delegates.  But what is the real purpose of this debate?  Who really has anything to gain or lose?  Why is it really being called for?  The answer is pretty simple:  campaign strategy for the underdogs.

The Strategy

In a campaign for public office, when a candidate is polling at a level lower than their opponent one common strategy to try and bridge the gap is to challenge that opponent to a debate.  If that candidate declines the invitation, the negative messaging writes itself.  The frontrunner appears to be unwilling to participate in the democratic, free exchange of ideas and and is “out of touch” with the voters.  If the frontrunner accepts the invitation, the underdog has an opportunity to hit their opponent on their weakest issues and gain some ground.

If a candidate is the frontrunner in the election, they have no incentive to debate.  Through whatever methods they have already applied they have convinced the voting public that they are the best candidate for the job.  The frontrunner has nothing to gain and only something to lose by debating.

My Take On It

Since the whole debate discussion began I have been inundated with emails from candidates in various races throughout the state who want to challenge their respective opponents to debates.  Every single one of them has been the underdog — either the longshot candidate trying to defeat an incumbent in a lopsided district or a lesser known candidate in one of the larger political battles this year.  Not a single email came from an incumbent’s campaign or from the campaign of a major political frontrunner.

There is no real reason for the CRP to avoid debates between the major statewide candidates, but don’t expect the debates to actually be scheduled.  It is likely that even if the CRP decides to host debates at the spring convention that one or more of the candidates will decline for the very reasons stated above.