Republican Governor Kim Reynolds and Democratic challenger Fred Hubbell meet tonight for their second “live” TV debate. According to Dordt College political science professor Jeff Taylor, debates do not sway many voters.
“If a candidate makes a serious gaffe or error or some kind of big blunder in the debate, then that could be problematic,” Taylor told KLEM. “…But generally speaking, I think debates usually reinforce the base.”
So Republicans will be cheering for Reynolds tonight and Democrats will be cheering for Hubbell. Reynolds has been saying Hubbell didn’t seem to be having much fun at their first face-to-face debate.
“It is fun to talk about the positive things that are happening in Iowa…to be the cheerleader of a state that I love,” Reynolds told reporters from Radio Iowa and The Cedar Rapids Gazette yesterday. “…Everything he says is doom and gloom and negative and I don’t think it’s reflective of the whole story.”
Hubbell said he has a different approach to debating.
“I don’t necessarily go on the attack all the time like her ads do and like she did in the debate,” Hubbell said during an interview with KJAN. “I think about things. I approach it with a common sense, bipartisan agenda.”
Tonight’s debate will be held at Morningside College in Sioux City and broadcast on KTIV in Sioux City, KWWL in Waterloo and KTTC in Rochester, Minnesota at 7 p.m. The final debate between these two gubernatorial candidates will be early Sunday morning in Davenport.
(Additional reporting by Dennis Morrice, KLEM, Le Mars and Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic)