Last night in Jefferson, WI, Democratic challenger Lori Compas debated Republican Senator Scott Fitzgerald, and I'm happy to report that the night went very well for Lori!
Questions had been submitted by listeners of the local AM talk radio station, which co-sponsored the debate, and they ran the gamut from environmental issues to tax issues to open government issues. Fitzgerald was very smooth and had massive amounts of facts and figures at his disposal, as you would expect from someone who has been doing this for nearly 20 years. Lori Compas was nervous and soft-spoken and not nearly as smooth as Fitzgerald, but it didn't matter.
Lori's supporters outnumbered Fitz's by about a 3 to 1 margin. Lori held strong on her principles and beliefs while Fitz twisted the facts and tried to erase his past 18 months of illegal and unethical activity. Fitz really seemed oblivious to the fact that all his misdeeds have been recorded and reported and televised and embedded and seen by thousands and thousands of people all over the state... More than once he tried to claim that something he said or did never happened, and the media-literate members of the audience who knew better responded with laughter and booing. He made the age-old debating mistake of having complete mastery of the facts when it suited him and then suddenly feigning ignorance when the facts didn't suit him. Nobody was fooled.
Lori's best moment came when she said that on her first day as Senator, she would shake the hand of Dale Schultz, the renegade Republican Senator who voted with the Democrats to block Walker's obscene mining bill, and she would tell Sen. Schultz that she is looking forward to working with him to craft legislation that will be good for everyone in the state.
The debate ended on a high note, with Lori coming on strong, saying what needed to be said to Fitz's face, accusing him of violating open government laws, of attacking women's rights, workers' rights and voters' rights, and then promising that she would restore openness and honesty to state government.
Fitz's closing statement was flat and uninspiring... His heart just wasn't in it. Maybe it was all the laughter and booing, maybe it was the realization that his opponents outnumbered his supporters by such a massive amount, or maybe he still just can't comprehend that after running unopposed for nearly 20 years he may finally have to answer to his constituents, but he had no juice left for his closing statement. As a friend pointed out to me after the debate, "Fitzgerald never even asked us for our votes! That's political speech 101; you always ASK THE VOTERS FOR THEIR VOTES! He never did it!"
Lori did.
