April 30.
That’s the date of a scheduled televised statewide debate organized by the independent Indiana Debate Commission.
Who will be participating? Republican U.S. Senate candidates Mike Braun and Luke Messer.
Who won’t be participating? U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita.
The three are competing to face Democrat Sen. Joe Donnelly in November. So, why no Rokita?
According to his campaign manager, Bryan Reed, there was a scheduling conflict and the candidate would participate only in primary debates “organized and moderated by conservative Republicans.”
The debate, scheduled to be in a studio at public radio station WFYI in Indianapolis, will be moderated by Abdul Hakim-Shabazz, who is an attorney, blogger and radio host. Hakim-Shabazz’s column on politics is published in The Herald Bulletin.
“I have always said — and I can’t stand when candidates can’t do this — we are going for the Republican nomination, therefore it is incumbent to have conservative Republican groups organize these things and sponsor them,” Rokita said in a recent statement.
So, again why not this debate?
According to the Howey Report, Rokita believes the IDC is “packed with members of the liberal media elite, few of whom will even vote in the Republican primary.” And the debate, which will be shown on the liberal PBS, is “the very network Republicans repeatedly vow to defund.”
Rokita isn’t against debates, just against this one.
His camp announced last week that he would participate in an April 15 WISH-TV statewide televised debate.
He said he would also take part in the Allen County GOP U.S. Senate Debate, moderated by WOWO radio’s Pat Miller on April 23. WOWO features conservative talk shows.
“Who knows, maybe we do it in the end. ... If you just let those two guys go, it’ll be like watching paint dry. ... The ratings are already atrocious on PBS, and this will drive it down lower,” Rokita said in a statement. “Maybe I’ll go on and pump up the ratings a little bit.”
Rokita talks a good game, but he doesn’t have the courage to step to the plate.
His debate ducking indicates an unwillingness to defend his viewpoint, accept criticism and serve all the people of Indiana, not just those who see things exactly as he does.