On Sunday, CNN's Dana Bash confronted Democratic gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs about why she won't debate her Republican opponent, Kari Lake, as they run to see who will be the next governor of Arizona. Hobbs doubled down in quite the entitled way, claiming voters wouldn't care. It turns out her responses have continuously gotten more tone-deaf, evidenced by a Tuesday interview with "Arizona Horizon" on Arizona PBS.
Hobbs told host Ted Simons "this debate about debates is over," and offered she's instead "made her case to reporters, uh, in different forums where, um, there's an opportunity for a very in-depth dialogue about the issues." She made the same claim to Bash when it comes to how she agreed to appear on "State of the Union" that week.
Simons aptly pointed out that "standing up to your opponent is one aspect of leadership," with her refusal to debate applying to not just to Lake, but her Democratic primary opponents as well. When he asked her "why no debates this time around," Hobbs' excuse was that she was "focused on what we needed to do to win this election in November," dismissing calls to debate her primary opponent since "the voters overwhelmingly chose me in that race" and so "wasn't an issue."
When it comes to such talk about debates, then, for her "it's a distraction."
Arizona Democrat Katie Hobbs: “This debate about debates is over.”
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 19, 2022
Reporter: “Standing up to your opponent is one aspect of leadership. And you didn’t debate in the primary either…why no debates this go around?”
Hobbs: “It’s a distraction.” pic.twitter.com/XwEcsKlJRI
It's not just hosts for liberal networks such as CNN and PBS who are making such points. As Bash brought up on Sunday, Laurie Roberts wrote an op-ed for the Arizona Republic lamenting how "Katie Hobbs’ refusal to debate Kari Lake represents a new level of political malpractice."
Hobbs is hardly the only Democrat to refuse to debate her Republican opponent. Others, such as John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania's open Senate seat, and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) have dragged their feet over the one debate they have agreed to, which includes not agreeing to all the other debates their Republican opponents have.
Despite how Hobbs refuses to debate Lake, she claimed she's "not afraid to face" her.
Arizona Democrat Katie Hobbs pathetically insists “I’m not afraid to face Kari Lake” while she cowardly refuses to face @KariLake in a debate. pic.twitter.com/KzRLl1BDDF
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 19, 2022
RealClearPolitics, which regards the race as a "Toss-Up" and rejects a "GOP hold," now has Lake up in polling with a +1.6 lead. Other forecasters also have the race as a "Toss-Up."