Talk of the day, Saturday, Aug. 5
Should she or not?
The debate over debating is heating up in the 45th Congressional District race. When La Quinta education administrator David Roth won the Democratic primary in June, he almost immediately challenged incumbent Rep. Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, to a series of debates.
Should Mary Bono accept the offer by David Roth for a debate? What do you think?
Read the Story: Roth-Bono debate talk sparks its own debate
-- The Desert Sun
Tell us what you think...
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Debate; Not Just One
August 05, 5:42 p.m.
In my opinion, there should not be just one debate between Mr. Roth and Ms. Bono but a series of debates accessible to all citizens of the district. One debate could be held in the Salton Sea, Mecca, and Oasis area. Another debate could be held in the Thermal, Coachella, and Indio area. Another could be held in the La Quinta, Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage area. The next could occur in the Cathedral City and Palm Springs Area. Also, perhaps one could be held in the Desert Hot Springs and Twenty-Nine Palms area. In my opinion these debates should be in the form of a town hall meeting, where citizens have the opportunity to ask each candidate questions, and be able to see how each candidate answers with out a script or a list of talking points.
-- Alpha-Om
Here
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Dear Marty Schwimmer. you ask why Democrats didn't ask for a debate between you and David Roth???Because you never bothered to contact any of us....you never showed at meetings, at discussions, at anything...frankly I still don't know who you are or where your support or money came from. I do know that for you to expect the Democratic support for someone who couldn't be bothered to even say hello, was more than presumptous....so please, stop with asking why David Roth didn't debate you...no one knew who the heck you were......Elle
-- Elle K
Rancho Mirage
Debate, Mary, Debate!
August 05, 9:16 p.m.
I've been a supporter of Mary's in the past, but I'm increasingly concerned about the course this country has taken. I'm not sure whether she's just part of the problem . . . This time, the Democrats have put up a real candidate who wants a real debate. And Mr Troast's somewhat hysterical response is to accuse Roth of making personal attacks? C,mon, Mr. Troast. Others, including the Desert Sun, have written of Mary's affair with Connie Mack (she actually put out a press release about it). But Roth has never talked about Bono's personal life and Troast couldn't list any time that Roth had. Enough silly spinning, Mr. Troast. This country has some very serious problems and the voters deserve some very serious debates. If Ms. Bono wants my vote this time, she'll have to earn it - by debating Mr. Roth.
-- An Independent Voter
Rancho Mirage
Schwimmer Who?
August 05, 8:46 p.m.
Why in the world is Mary Bono trying to hide behind Marty Schwimmer's skirts? And just exactly when did Mr. Schwimmer ask Roth to debate? I never saw that in the Desert Sun. And the Desert Sun certainly never called for any debates . . . indeed, I don't recall anyone asking for a debate between the two. But what's that got to do with Bono and Roth anyway? Ms. Bono should understand that she debates Roth, not as a favor to him, but as her duty to us.
-- Robert in Rancho Mirage
Rancho Mirage
Who's Really Sticking to the Issues
August 05, 8:17 p.m.
Mr. Troast says that Roth is not sticking to the issues. On Mary Bono's campaign website, she devotes a grand total of 54 words to her numerous positions:
"The Congresswoman is a strong advocate of returning authority to local government, particularly in public education. Bono opposes the existing federal tax structure, supports tax relief and advocates a reduction in the federal bureaucracy. A fundamental belief is the responsibility of the federal government to maintain a strong national defense and state-of-the-art armed services."
On the other hand, Mr. Roth devotes 1,349 words to his positions on a variety of issues. Mr. Roth has also already held numerous forms to discuss these issues with regular people.
My question is: Who is really sticking to the issues in this campaign?
-- Just the Facts
Palm Desert
Of Course She Should
August 05, 8:12 p.m.
David Roth is the nominee of the other major party in this country. Not a serious candidate?? Of course, bono should debate him, several times in different places.
-- Douglas Schmidt
Cathedral City
This is Why
August 05, 7:54 p.m.
Because you never asked him!
-- Thomas Philip
Palm Springs
Why So Upset
August 05, 7:35 p.m.
Why weren't so many Democrats upset when Roth wouldn't debate his opponent?
-- Marty Schwimmer
LQ
Blah Blah Blah
August 05, 7:30 p.m.
Blah Blah Blah Blah...is that your stance on immigration Mr. Roth?
-- Concerned 2
Palm Springs
I Should Go
August 05, 7:28 p.m.
I am like the Orbitz traveling gnome, I travel from place to place to find someplace I can run for office. After I lose this race, perhaps I can go back to LA?
-- David Roth
La Quinta
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DEBATES
August 05, 7:07 p.m.
Any candidate for public office should be willing and EAGER to join a debate.
If you want to be elected, you had better be willing and eager to promote and defend your platform in the public eye, against all comers.
Shying away from a fair and moderated debate suggests to the voters that you cannot defend your stance when challenged, or do not have the grasp upon issues to be able to speak contemporously.
Either way, not someone I want to vote for. This refusal of Bono's makes me view her suspiciously.
-- Concerned
Palm Springs
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It's only fair
August 05, 2:57 p.m.
Mary Bono should debate Roth-- its the only fair thing to do, if nothing else, then for the political process. Although I will vote for Mary, Roth has every right to be heard. Although I do not like Roth as a candidate, I will defend his right to participate in the process.
-- Thomas Beckert
La Quinta
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No Debate..No Vote Maryno
August 05, 2:33 p.m.
Either Mary debates..or she loses my vote!!!
-- J R Silva
Palm Springs
August 05, 2:20 p.m.
by all means, mary bono should accept the invitation to debate.....The negative thinker here is not mr roth, but mr troast, campaign mgr. i am a registered republican, but feel that in this case, it is about time other voices are heard from and that the steamroll approach in the 45th should end or really prove itself....
-- l paris
rancho mirage
Disingenous Attack by Troast
August 05, 1:21 p.m.
It's telling that Mr. Troast had no examples of negative campaigning nor of personal attacks, even though he accused David Roth of just that. Why?
I believe it's because he couldn't find any, and I do know why that is. David Roth and his staff make it crystal clear to me and every other Roth volunteer I know that Karl Rove tactics of any kind are not welcome. We have Social Security, the wars, national security, the economy, and public education to discuss, and that's quite enough.
Mary Bono voted the GOP party line 90% of the time. That's the record, and she should answer for it. Attempting to blame David Roth for the negativity of Mary Bono's record is simply pitiful.
Thanks to the House Republicans, the Senate Republicans, and the Bush team, our nation's honor is in tatters, our fiscal health is tanking, and the Constitution is undermined daily by Bush's contempt for our laws and this Congress's dereliction of duty.
How is that Democratic challenger David Roth's fault again?
-- Beth Caskie
La Quinta
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Cocktail waitress comment
August 05, 12:40 p.m.
Having already said I'll vote for Roth, I'll also say that statement made by another that Mary Bono was a gym trainer and a cocktail waitress while Roth is an "intellectual" is irrelevant, or should be.In this free country those terms are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
-- rick
palm desert
Bono is a COWARD
August 05, 12:26 p.m.
Plain and simple. She just sits back in her comfy chair and votes like a republican zombie. We have had ENOUGH of do-nothing Mary and her "party"ing ways. Let's finally get rid of her.
-- There's something about Mary and it ain't Pretty
CC
Mary Mary Quite Contrary
August 05, 12:16 p.m.
If mary has any brains she will never debate Roth. The Iraq war mistakes and war crimes are indefensable in a debate to say nothing about the national debt, global warming and dying oceans.
The only hope Mary has is that voters in Riverside county will not turn out again (69% last time). Apathy is her only ally other than lock step Republicans in the valley.
-- Brother Bob
Church of What's Happening Now
Silent Mary
August 05, 12:08 p.m.
yes, she needs to debate if only to justify some of the support she's given Bush and the war in Iraq.
-- Steven Brown
Palm Springs
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Absolutely
August 05, 12:00 p.m.
The voters have a right to hear both condidates in a pre election debate.
-- J. Sweeney
Indian Wells
Why not debate?
August 05, 11:59 a.m.
I'm a firmly committed independent, newly registered in Palm Springs. Frankly extremism by both parties is most frightening. I'm interested in learning more about Rep. Bono's record rather than Roth's - vote against Bush by voting for me. Some of us really do want to know what differentiates you from Bush admin and what you would do differently. Should the course be changed and if yes how will you work with your colleagues to bring these changes to the forefront especially given the childish partisanship prevailing in DC.
-- Chris
Palm Springs
The lovely Mary Bono
August 05, 11:54 a.m.
She won't debate because she will come off badly. Though I believe Mary Bono is a good person, she is a foot soldier in the Republican party.
Her vote to increase the minimum wage while overriding state rules on tip income and tying it to elimination of death taxes(2 bucks for the poor, 20 million for the rich)was typical. Her argument that small businesses and farms can't be passed along because of the estate tax is bogus - the estate exemption is already over $1,000,000, tax rates are down, and anyone rich knows how to use trusts and insurance to take care of death taxes - though they may have to forgo a new Rolls Royce.
I was a Republican for years, but recent years of Republicans bashing the poor while cutting taxes on the rich, a failed foreign policy that has most of the world hating us, and a most un-Republican huge budget deficit, has me voting Democratic.
I just hope Roth won't be a slave to the usual Democratic interest groups, and will actually do something to fix things like social security with realistic approaches such as raising both taxes and the retirement age. I also hope he knows enough to to keep a strong military, but use it only really necessary for we the people - not Halliburton.
We may have had good intentions in Iraq, but after 16,000 American casualties and creating a civil war (not to mention pratically abandoning poor Afghanistan)would Ms. Bono please say let's get out?I suspect she hasn't the courage for that, or a debate with Roth.
-- Rick
Palm Desert
Sad Letter !
August 05, 11:49 a.m.
Troast's letter to Roth regarding a debate is very defensive and shows that Bono is more vulnerable than most people think. Not once have I read any negative campaigning by Roth, but Troast's letter is negative! He must fear that Roth is a very serious candidate and gaining more voters each day.
-- Robert Siote
Rancho Mirage
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August 05, 10:56 a.m.
You are absolutely right. Unless, of course, Ms. Bono has only experience without intelligence OR has something to hide.
-- Mary M
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Should Bono Debate?
August 05, 10:41 a.m.
Failure to debate leaves the electorate in the position to decide on a candidate based on campaign sound bites. That is not the intelligent way to decide on our national representatives. This country was founded because elections were based on the debates of intelligent and articulate people willing to sacrifice their own personal well being to become representatives of the will of the people. We have far too long ago strayed from that forum and in this day when communications are at the prime we should know point by point what our representatives stand for. If one candidate fails to subject him or herself to public scrutiny the voters are cheated. Please debate and also engage in town hall type meetings with eachother so we all get the benefit of both candidate's wisdom. Ms. Bono should be in the position of advantage since she has been working the federal arena for several years, including when her husband was the Congressman. She has nothing to lose and the public has everything to gain.
-- Olivia
Gutierrez
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Run and Hide, Mary Bono!
August 05, 10:09 a.m.
Mary Bono and her beleagured campaign manager desperately want to wiggle out of debating David Roth. Roth is a formidable intellecutal who speaks with skill and lucidity. Bono is a former cocktail waitress and gym trainer.If I have to explain the rest, then you probably voted for George Bush.
-- David Spero
Palm Springs
She has no record
August 05, 10:08 a.m.
ms. bono will not debate Mr. Roth, simply due to the fact that her record is hoplessly tied to mr. bush's failed administration. she truly has nothing of note or interest to say. she is a fundraising tramp for her republican cohoorts, and should be voted out of office, and perhaps run out of town.
-- Bob Cowboy-Lydon
Palm Springs
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Debate?
August 05, 09:07 a.m.
Why should it even be a question? Why should Congresswoman Bono not make herself available to answer the tough questions?It is the only way that voters can see the 2 candidates and compare their views on issues.
-- Nancy Dion
Rancho Mirage
talk...
August 05, 08:53 a.m.
Bono has done nothing else but "talk". jaw flapping is all these congressional "people" know how to do. They can debate until the hell freezes over, but until they actually do something - they just talk.
-- no one cares
Scared to debate
August 05, 07:44 a.m.
Bono is scared to debate David Roth. She has no issues to stand on. She is a rubber stamp for a failed president. She does not like to appear in her district except in social events.
Roth is fully abreast of the issues important to the District's residents. He is very articulate.
He'd beat Bono hands down!
-- O. Lilly
Palm Springs
Why Not
August 05, 07:38 a.m.
Mary has run on the name of her dead husband fame, and the shirttails of President Bush. Let us now hear if she has some orginial ideas of her own. Let her own up to her record and the let us hear what are her stands on the current issues. Yes debate.
-- Everett Martin
Palm Springs
Bono needs to be accountable
August 05, 07:36 a.m.
To my knowledge, Mary Bono continues to dodge debates. As an incumbent, it is incumbent upon her to let the voters know what she stands for; especially in an election year. Let's get over "dodge it" politics.
-- Rina Sanderling
Palm Springs
why debate a loser
August 05, 07:12 a.m.
Mary, don't waste your gas mileage driving to talk to gas mouth Roth.
-- robert martinez
Temecula
Can't Debate, Mary??
August 05, 06:36 a.m.
Don't know how? Haven't debated before? Don't know "your stuff" or the issues? When did you last have a Public Speaking/Debate class?
I think the opposition DESERVES a chance to ask and answer questions about your position on issues important to the valley and the country. YOUR position, not the position you have been told to take.
-- Dee
It would seem that voters in the CA-45th don't swallow the usual bs from the GOP this year. How refreshing.
Crossposted at Daily Kos
