2010 Mid-Term - MA1 & MA2 Congressional Districts: Incumbents Richard Neal (D-MA2) and John Olver (D-MA1) Decline Debates – Debate Video and Analysis

Springfield, MA: On Sunday, October 16, WWLP, the Springfield, MA NBC affiliate held two debates, one for the MA1st and one for the MA2nd Congressional Districts. Both incumbents, Richard Neal (D) and John Olver (D) declined the invitation to meet their opponents, Tom Wesley(R) who is running for the MA2 Congressional District and Bill Gunn(R) and Michael Engle (I) who are running for the MA1 Congressional District in a Lincoln Douglas style debate. The videos from WWLP are shown below. Congressman, Richard Neal did accept one debate with opponent Tom Wesley, in a pre-tapped ½ hour moderated debate on WGBY, Public Television, podcasts of the debate here are not yet available; the last airing was yesterday morning at 10:30 am. WWLP, however, offers a larger share of the districts viewing audience, even though the debates are held during the afternoon (The affiliate makes all debates available on their website.)

Incumbents are declining to debate across the country, most notably, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, who is refusing the debate her opponent, John Dennis. Although the strategy to pretend one does not have competition for one’s Congressional seat, might appear to be a good idea, especially in MA and CA, where “reliable Democrats” are counted on to get out and vote, the issues facing the nation, high unemployment, specifically, do not allow that luxury this election cycle. The facts that races are rated safe Democrat by CQ Politics (Congressional Quarterly), Richard Neal is considered “Safe Democrat”, based on his 2008 election, where there race was not contested. In addition CQ factors in the results from the 2008 presidential election, in order to further emphasis their hypotheses The same is true of the MA1st and the CA8th. However, one has to recall that other elections have taken place (special elections) in MA where those statistics tell a different story. For example: Scott Brown (R), bested Martha Coakley (D) by up to 57% in most MA Congressional Districts, therefore the data is skewed to favor the incumbent.

One can check the rating of their respective representatives on an interactive map available here , however, Massachusetts Districts, will show, for the most part, the information available from 2008. These ratings are used by a variety of websites, to support the fact that the incumbents are likely to be reelected. Using historical data, is, normally speaking; a safe bet, however, to not acknowledge the current mood of the electorate or the fact that these Congressional Representatives have actual challengers is irresponsible to say the least.

That said, WWLP, in giving both Tom Wesley and Bill Gunn and Independent Candidate Engle an opportunity to debate (or in Tom Wesley’s case, answer the moderators questions, in some detail) allows those in the district and opportunity to learn more about each candidate, however, it does little good for the incumbent to appear either too arrogant or too busy, to take the time for their constituents. In addition, the incumbents do not have the ability to rebut any statements made, which appears to put the respective representatives at a clear disadvantage, as more of the electorate are engaged. It is worth watching both debates for the MA2 and MA1 shown below due to the variety of ideas on issues from unemployment, taxation and the nations deficit that are offered by these candidates.

Video's below courtesy of WWLP, local news/infocus the Debates Note: videos not available on WWLP's You tube channel.