Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be sunny with high of 76. Sunrise is 6:34 AM and sunset 7:05 PM for 12h 31m 04s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 81.5% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1984, Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to fly a gas balloon alone across the Atlantic Ocean.
One reads that Gov. Evers and Tim Michels have agreed to one, and only one, debate. Shawn Johnson reports Evers, Michels to debate just once before election:
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican challenger Tim Michels announced Monday that they’d agreed to debate Friday, Oct. 14. The event is sponsored by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, whose debates are typically carried by TV and radio stations throughout the state.
It’s rare for there to be just one debate in a general election campaign for governor, but both the Evers and Michels campaigns were onboard with the plan.
“We are pleased to announce that our two campaigns have reached an agreement regarding the upcoming Wisconsin Broadcasters Association debate,” read a joint statement issued by Evers campaign manager Cassi Fenili and Michels campaign manager Patrick McNulty. “There are plenty of differences between the two candidates, but we agree that voters deserve this opportunity to hear directly from each candidate. This will be the only debate between the candidates before the November election.”
The WBA debate will be held in Madison and include journalists from around the state.
For the candidates, this agreement makes sense. It’s likely to be a close race, in a contest where many partisan voters are decided, and where neither candidate is a notable for his oratory. The polling gains amount the tiny number of undecided from debates will be slight, and outweighed if there should be significant gaffe.
For either candidate’s electoral prospects, less debating and more advertising makes sense.
For the public, however, this is a paltry offering. Several debates would offer far more than an occasional gaffe. Several debates would give Wisconsinites a chance to see how these candidates answer questions on public policy from the press and in reply to each other.
Respect for the office begins with respect for one’s fellow residents (or in Michels’s case at least the pretense of a committed having fellow Wisconsin residents).
Wisconsin deserves more.
Mountain glacier in Chile’s Patagonia collapses: