Editorial: Voters served by debates

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2006 | 7:45 a.m.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., passed on many opportunities to debate his two opponents in the governor's race during the primary election, opting instead to coast to a landslide victory supported by a bigger war chest, better statewide name recognition and polls that consistently showed him to be ahead.

Gibbons did condescend to one debate on public television, but only after early voting was well under way. He has begun the general election campaign in much the same way, having skipped Monday night's debate at the Flamingo Library sponsored by Congregation Ner Tamid.

Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, Gibbons' challenger, held forth alone Monday night, presenting a picture of what could be a continuation of the primary - the absentee Gibbons running on the strength of his advertising budget and his faith that polling will continue to go his way.

But Titus, following her own convincing victory in the Democratic primary, sought to change that scenario. Three days after the election, she wrote to Gibbons, saying that "Nevada's voters deserve to see us, side by side, discussing the issues in spontaneous exchange."

She proposed that they hold six debates before Nov. 7, Election Day.

Contacted Tuesday, Gibbons' campaign manager, Robert Uithoven, said Gibbons is agreeable to three debates, no more.

He said Gibbons' congressional duties, as well as a desire to keep his campaign schedule more flexible, prevent the candidate from committing to six.

As the two sides plan the debates, we hope they agree to formats that have them questioning each other, rather than simply answering questions from a panel of journalists. This would give viewers a chance to better understand each candidate's own priorities.

Most important, however, we're disappointed that Gibbons, after practically sitting out the primary election, believes that the voting public can truly be served with just three debates. Titus and Gibbons have very different visions for Nevada, and voters would be well served to see them together, trading their sharply contrasting views, as often as possible.