It’s official. The congressional debate between incumbent Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Republican Yesli Vega that was planned for Friday, Oct. 21, has been canceled. The event was reportedly agreed upon, but Spanberger decided to run into the bunker when she heard who was moderating the debate: Townhall's own Senior Columnist Larry O’Connor.
We’ve seen this happen across the country with Democrats: they don’t want to debate. They’re backed up against the wall, with voters looking to blame them for diminished take-home pay due to the high inflation, the price hikes at the grocery store, the pinch at the gas pump, and the overall shambolic state of the economy. The economic atmosphere is toxic, and everyone sees it. It’s why Latinos in Nevada will not turn out in droves to vote for incumbent Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, which puts her re-election chances at risk.
Factor in Joe Biden’s outright atrocious approval ratings and the lack of consistent legislative accomplishments that have positively impacted the lives of Americans—and it’s the making for a two-hour Sugar Ray Leonard-style beating for whichever Democrat takes the podium. With nothing to run on, Democrats flee for the hills, whether it’s a contest for the U.S. Senate, the governor’s mansion, or whoever will represent Virginia’s seventh congressional district.
Spanberger whipped out the katana against O’Connor, calling him a right-wing radio host who spews lies and hatred against Democrats. He was supposed to co-moderate it with PBS’ Lisa Desjardins, so the anxiety about this turning into a right-wing bash fest is not valid. The moderator selection doesn’t appear to be the reason for Spanberger high tailing out of this event. She campaigned with Virginia Delegate Elizabeth Guzman, whose proposed changes to the state’s child abuse laws would make it a crime for parents to not address their LGBT kids by their proper pronouns, among other things.
The debate organizers confirmed me as a co-moderator. I have emails. It defies credulity that @RepSpanberger's team did not approve this before the debate committee had confirmed with me.
— Larry O'Connor (@LarryOConnor) October 16, 2022
Instead of slandering me, perhaps the congresswoman should explain all of this confusion. https://t.co/0E0Iv5qObH
Spanberger’s opponent, Ms. Vega, aptly called the changes to the law an anti-parent bill and has become another ‘Terry McAuliffe moment’ for Virginia Democrats. In 2021, Mr. McAuliffe was famous for saying that parents should have zero say regarding how their children are educated in a debate with now-Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” he said.
Most observers pointed to this moment being the turning point in the election. In a debate between Vega and Spanberger, this would undoubtedly be brought up since Virginia Democrats said they would propose these changes to the child abuse laws during the legislature's next session.
.@SpanbergerVA07 backed out of our debate because she’s scared to answer where she stands on jailing parents if they don’t conform to her party’s woke culture.
— Yesli Vega (@yestoyesli) October 18, 2022
My only question, where are you Abigail? Parents deserve to know where you stand on this issue. pic.twitter.com/W0YyEGphnM
O’Connor said that Spanberger’s move was “bush league” and that he wasn’t why this debate got blown up. She’s using him as an escape hatch while slandering him. On social media, O’Connor added that someone needs to explain the situation. Either Spanberger knew he would be a debate moderator and decided to back out at the last minute, or the debate organizers, the Virginia League of Women Voters, confirmed O’Connor to moderate the event but never told the congresswoman. At the outset of this controversy, O’Connor offered to back away to give the people of Virginia’s seventh congressional district a debate that they deserve during this 2022 cycle. Spanberger, like the rest of her party, opted to run away.
And to be clear, there is no moral high ground here since Ms. Vega declined a debate in Fredericksburg last month. Yet, to my knowledge, Vega didn't back out because of a moderator dispute. At the time, Spanberger said this regarding Ms. Vega’s withdrawal:
“As a Representative, I believe in accountability and accessibility, and I had been looking forward to debate the issues that matter to Virginians,” the two-term congresswoman wrote. “Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my opponent, who just declined a debate.”
“Voters deserve to know where their candidates stand on issues, and clearly my opponent is hiding from Virginians because she can’t defend her extreme positions,” Spanberger added.
Lady, you just retreated from this debate because you didn’t want to answer tough questions and explain your ties to a Virginia state legislator proposing extremist agenda items—and all of this while blaming the moderator selection when it seems clear that you’re just chicken.