The candidates respond

Or should I say some candidates respond.

A week and a half ago we (the authors of Flashpoint) sent out a questionnaire to each of the candidates running for Alabama’s 5th district Congressional seat. The questions were crafted in order to cover a range of issues important to voters and give the candidates room to be as brief or thorough as they desired. This was not intended to be a yes/no or special interest specific exercise.

We didn’t know just what to expect. We knew that the abbreviated campaign worked against us since the candidates’ schedules would be considerably more crowded than in a typical campaign, thus making it less likely they would be willing to sacrifice their time to complete a detailed form to be posted on some internet blog. We also assumed that the breadth of content covered - as well as some pointed, hot topic social issue questions - might also discourage candidates lest they expose their lack of topical knowledge or offend a bloc of voters.

We are pleased to say that half of the candidates - three Republicans and one Democrat - completed and returned the forms. They are:

• George Barry
• Cheryl Baswell Guthrie
• Ray McKee
• David Maker

Just click on the name to read their full set of responses. Only minor typographical modifications were made.

We would like to extend a hearty thanks to those candidates who choose to take the time to respond. I found the responses very interesting and informative.

One that caught my attention was Guthrie’s. Early in her campaign I heard grumblings about the fluffy nature of her campaign, the curious decision to use an anti-Obama TV ad in a Republican primary campaign, and a penchant for promising a degree of religious infusion into government that made me leery. However, I was very impressed with her well thought out, detailed responses. She has done her homework on the issues. In particular, I thought her answer to the education question, basically advocating for incentives for parents who home or privately school their children while recognizing the real risk of government intrusion, was great. The caution against letting government in the door is prescient and must be brought up when talking about things like education tax credits.

George Barry demonstrated a firm grasp of the Constitution - an admirable (and regrettably rare) trait that is far too often overlooked in our elections that all too often revolve around relatively silly wedge issues. It’s one thing for a candidate to research an answer and provide a sound response. That is good and it is what I expect out of a candidate, but to throw out a quote from Section 8 of the Constitution as a justification of his answer to a question about NASA funding is very impressive. It illustrates that he has a strong understanding of the Constitution and is able to address problems in a manner that is in keeping with our supreme law.

Ray McKee and David Maker both provided my favorite responses to the softball question. McKee said that his opponents had no agenda to accomplish and that he assumes “they will go [to Washington] wide-eyed and ready to be slaughtered.” I’ll be honest, I was not expecting anyone to suggest their opponents would be slaughtered (figuratively speaking of course!). Maker used the opportunity not to highlight a pet issue or plug himself, but rather to suggest we (the authors of the questions) do not think. I personally found it amusing.

As for the other candidates…

Angelo Mancuso declined to respond, citing his busy schedule. Dr. Parker Griffith’s campaign pledged to return the form by Tuesday of this past week, “Wednesday by the very latest.” The completed form was never sent (yes, I check my spam folder) and my contact in his campaign office did not reply to my subsequent email. (Aren’t politicians supposed to wait until after they are elected to stop doing what they say?!) Mark Huff did not reply to multiple emails. I contacted Wayne Parker’s campaign numerous times. Polite individuals consistently took my messages. One person actually returned my call once and left a message on my voice mail early in the week. I promptly responded, but had to leave a voice mail and never heard back despite another follow up call.

Wayne Parker’s decision not to reply is troubling to me. Sure, he likely choose not to because he either views his selection as the Republican nominee as a given or simply didn’t wanted to be bothered with some obscure blogger’s request. But thus far in the campaign Parker has demonstrated a profound lack of knowledge on many issues. He espouses great conservative fundamentals, but delving down into particulars illustrates the fact that he had not planned on running for Congress and consequently is not prepared. I suspect that this may have played a role in his non-response to a wide ranging questionnaire. I think it is interesting to note that Parker’s campaign website is also the only one that does not have a section dedicated to issues. No bulleted lists, no explanation of his positions. Nothing. [Update: The day after this post was written the Parker campaign added an issue section to the website.] I’ll be writing more on Parker’s candidacy in the coming days.

[Update #2: Wayne Parker has responded.]

I certainly don’t expect Parker Griffith to be ill informed or shy about expressing his policy positions. I was looking forward to seeing his responses to the questions and I hope that, given the indication he had nearly completed the questionnaire, there was merely a breakdown in communication.

Once again, many thanks to those candidates who did respond. I hope their efforts aid you in your decision on June 3rd.

Related content:

• AL Senate District 7 Candidates Answer Questionnaire
• An ill-fated, bizarre campaign nears an end
• Parker Griffith & Unwarranted Pain and Suffering