U.S. Senate candidate Jamie Radtke is sending signals that her election efforts will rise and fall on one spectacular moment: debating George Allen. From NBC 12’s Decision Virginia:
Most of those hopes are far fetched and lack specificity. Jamie Radtke is much more direct. She knows what could turn her campaign from long shot to legitimate.
“The true game changer would be a debate between myself and George Allen,” said Radtke.
Radtke said she welcomes all the other challengers as well, but feels confident that given the opportunity, voters would find that she is the refreshing alternative to Allen.
“The question is, will George Allen do a debate?’ she said.
Allen supporters might question whether or not Radtke has earned the right to a debate. Thus far, Timothy Donner and Bishop E.W. Jackson have proven to be formidable candidates of their own accord, tearing away parts of the fiscal conservative faction in northern Virginia and the social conservative wing of the conservative movement respectively. Meanwhile, challenger David McCormick seems to have captured the running-from-my-living-room flair that truly grassroots campaigns tend to embrace.
Radtke makes the case for herself, and the other candidates should they choose to participate, below:
With every professional poll showing Radtke et al. in the basement against George Allen, whose numbers remain in the 60% range, it’s hard to make the case that any of the GOP challengers has really established themselves as a credible alternative to the former Governor.
Moreover, it is entirely unclear that Radtke is the leader of this pack. Donner posted a respectable $206K in the last quarter of fundraising, while the other candidates have been very mum about their totals thus far. Allen continues to post seven-figure fundraising totals in preparation for a general election contest with former governor/DNC Chairman Tim Kaine, who is still staring down a challenge from his left from Rep. Bobby Scott.
Other conservatives are questioning whether or not the “challengers” should debate amongst themselves as to who is best suited to challenge Allen for the GOP nomination, noting that the opposition is split 4 to 1.
That debate between Radtke, Donner, Jackson, and McCormick would be one worth watching. Whether Virginia conservative organizations would be willing to anoint the winner of such a debate with their endorsements would end the contest between who can credibly challenge Allen in a contest of ideas.
Whether such an event would ever happen — as the contests in VA-02 and VA-05 illustrated in 2010 — is questionable at best. So long as it is questionable as to whether or not there really is an alternative candidate for the GOP 2012 U.S. Senate nod, then it is doubtful that Allen’s campaign will take any offer for debate seriously — nor will most of the Republican faithful.
