He said, she said - Ehrlich-Townsend Debate

Baltimore Sun ^ | Sep 25, 2002 | David Folkenflik

[HoosierFather]

He said, she said: With few details nailed down, the looming Ehrlich-Townsend debate has issues to address Radio & TV: David Folkenflik -------------------------------------------------------- Originally published Sep 25, 2002

Excerpted from the Baltimore Sun

Aides to Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. say he'll be able to show the whole state his plans to address a wide range of issues affecting Marylanders.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's camp says she'll have the chance to strip Ehrlich of his ability to hide his conservatism in a state that leans toward Democrats.

They're both talking about tomorrow's televised debate - the first in this year's race for governor - which isn't quite a debate, and isn't even scheduled for live broadcast by any of the region's major TV stations.

The local chapter of the NAACP is acting as the host of the event, which is to be held at Morgan State University's performing arts center.

Yet so few details are firmly fixed for the debate's format that the affair is, to put it delicately, something of a mess. "This thing is so fluid right now that all of the options available to us have not been explained," said Bill Fine, general manager of WBAL-TV.

As a result, none of the network affiliates is planning to carry the event live. (The debut of major network programs at the same time - such as NBC's Friends and the second episode of CBS' Survivor - also made the prospect distinctly less appealing.)

Comcast, the region's dominant cable television provider, has promised to air the program live in the Baltimore area on its Philadelphia-based cable news station, CN8, while cable's NewsChannel 8 will do so in the Washington area. Maryland Public Television (Channels 22 and 67) and WBFF (Channel 45) were planning to tape it and broadcast it at 10:30 p.m. tomorrow night. Several other stations are weighing showing it later in the week...

Here's what was set as of last night:

The event is to begin at 8 p.m., and to last no more than 90 minutes...Ehrlich had pushed for a longer event and Townsend for less..."The respective campaigns could reach very little common ground over the weekend," said Paul E. Schurick, a spokesman for Ehrlich...

Six journalists are to pose questions to the two candidates. Only two have been named...

At no time will the candidates question each other...

The candidates will each be able to reserve tickets for 250 people to attend at the Morgan State site, which seats more than 2,000. The others will be made available to students and citizens presumably unaffiliated with either campaign...

Townsend, saddled with the perception that she can be tongue-tied at times, is seeking to show her command of language and policy, and to brand Ehrlich as out-of-step with Maryland...

[HoosierFather]

Down to the wire and KKT's campaign is still fighting over the terms of the debate. Ehrlich has to go into traditionally Dim turf (Morgan State) hosted by a traditionally Dim group (NAACP). I predict he will do well, even under conditions that favor KKT.

KKT is also getting a major assist from the local TV and radio stations, either not running the debate or tape delaying the event. This situation is a joke and it shows how frantic the MD Dim machine is regarding putting KKT up against Ehrlich in any public forum. But, many here have been predicting this for months.

[mafree]

I'll bet they wouldn't let the Black GOP candidate for lieutenant governor debate in this venue. Sad.