UPDATE 19:28 MDT: No, he is not.
As Michael Larson, teacher and debate coach at Lennox High School informs us below, Mr. Otten is not dodging any debate. He has not declined to appear on stage one-on-one with Mr. Schriever. By taking a story based on one unnamed source on another blog as worth reposting, I have contributed to heated and mistaken rhetoric that makes Mr. Larson's job harder and discourages candidates from sticking their necks out in public.
I leave my post below as a record of the error for which I am apologizing. I encourage Mr. Otten to overlook my overzealous puffery and serve the voters of District 6 well by attending as many forums with Mr. Schriever as they can fit inot their schedules.
Update 21:29 MDT: I have tendered an apology to Mr. Otten. In response, Mr. Otten says that two public debates have been scheduled, for Harrisburg and Tea. He speaks very positively about setting up a debate in Lennox as well.
***original absolutely erroneous post***
Mr. Ehrisman reports that Republican District 6 Senate candidate Ernie Otten is dodging debates. According to his source, Lennox HS debate coach Michael Larson (hey! I know that guy!) is trying to arrange two public debates for District 6: one for the four House candidates, one for the two Senate candidates. But Ernie Otten doesn't want to appear on stage one-on-one with his Democratic challenger Richard Schriever. Supposedly, Otten wants all six candidates for the two offices on stage in one forum.
Ehrisman makes clear the merits of a forum focused on just the Senate candidates:
If I [were] Otten I would leap at the opportunity to challenge my opponent one-on-one. Not only would you get more time to argue your case, you can clearly set yourself a part from your opponent [Scott Ehrisman, "District 6 Debate Debacle," South Dacola, August 26, 2012].
No doubt! Voters must choose between Otten and Schriever. Those two men should present themselves on stage, without distraction, so voters can focus on distinguishing these two men.
Of course, if I were Otten, facing an intelligent and well-spoken candidate like Schriever, I might want to avoid a face-to-face battle as well. Consider this sharp comment from Schriever on evaluating candidates:
We sometimes, as candidates, forget that our "opponent" is also our constituent &ndash a voter &ndash and potentially a person we will be charged with representing and acting on behalf of. A great deal can be learned by voters by observing how the candidates treat and address one another during the course of the campaign. Whether they choose to focus on an earnest (no pun intended) exchange of ideas followed by serious deliberation, or whether they seek to belittle and demean, may indicate very well just how they will interact with constituents or fellow legislators once they are elected [Richard Schriever, SD 6 Senate Facebook post, August 26, 2012].
I don't know if Otten has been throwing insults at Schriever yet, but he wasn't exactly forceful in denouncing the deceptive belittling and demaning of his primary opponent last spring.
Cowboy up, Ernie! Bring all your Tea Party heat to the stage. Face Schriever, show voters why you can be a better Senator than he.
Again, for the record the above post, put up at 07:23 MDT this morning, was based on bogus rumor-mongering and was simply wrong.
I don't see much in Scott's article that suggests there is any bona fide avoidance of debates going on.
Neither are there claims of such avoidance from any of the District 6 candidates.
Seems to me that this is just simply a variation on a common theme that has been going on for several weeks on this blog (and others) regarding the South Dakota state fair and Noem's refusal to debate there.
However, in this case, I see only rampant speculation and innuendo and not much actual evidence.
But if your purpose in regurgitating Scott's speculative story was to simply drive traffic to your site on a slow Monday, then more power to you, I guess.
Oh, Jack: if my purpose were to drive traffic, there are many more effective strategies I could follow than harping on District 6.
Debate matters to me. Brave, forthright, public debate. A forum with six speakers vying for two different offices dilutes the message of each candidate and reduces what the public can learn. The Lawrence County GOP recognizes that back in April, when it hosted a forum for the county, House, and Senate candidates.
So enough about me, Jack. Are you saying that a mixed forum with all six candidates is better than separate forums for each office? Why or why not?
I'm not saying one is necessarily better or worse than the other.
What I am saying is that if people can handle a House debate where there are positions of at least 4 candidates to keep track of, then they should also be perfectly capable (perhaps with a little note-taking if needed) to keep track of six candidates and their positions as well.
Not to mention the fact that by combining debates on one date (which they are ALREADY doing for the scheduled debates in Tea and Harrisburg) you allow the good voters of District 6 to reduce their gas expenses during these tough economic times.
Now, after your little soapbox speech on water conservation, I would certainly think you would want to maintain some consistency and advocate the conservation and preservation of our other natural resources as well.
As the person trying to establish a tradition in a new district, I feel I have to clear things up. Mr. Otten has given me several dates to set up a debate. I am working on clarifying the format of the debate. I think it is wrong to misclassify anything as a dodge. He has not stated that he does not want to be on stage one on one with an opponent.
I have only heard a willingness and some specific dates available for the debate from Mr. Otten of the Senate and another candidate for the house.
This has me upset as a mischaracterization of anything that has been done. I am still in the process of trying to set up the debates and talking with several different people about the best format. This type of rhetoric, tends to make establishing all that much harder.
I would appreciate if you would clarify the article and free it of some of the loaded language. Thank you.
Yes, Mr. H. too much rhetoric is probably a debate demerit.
I'd tell Mr. E myself but I'm banned there. But if you wanted to really stir things up double down on your loaded language and become a debate debauchee.
I was told that is a french word and I don't know what it means.
I will clarify immediately. I apologize, Mr. Larson, for writing a post based on an unnamed source on another blog.
I appreciate it. I will keep you and other interested people updated once we have sorted this all out. It is much easier to say, here is a specific date for the debate (without consulting anyone) and the format that will be used. I find running debate tournaments with 8 to 10 schools involved much less of a headache.
I am hopeful that a debate can be had for our district. I felt that as people that try and teach students the importance of debating ideas instead of much of what we see between politicians and other theatrical shows, that schools (especially ones with debate programs) should get involved. I hope that other school districts would be willing to take on the headache and set up debates in their own areas. This is going to be a big learning curve for myself and the district, but I hope that it will benefit many people.
Thank you Mr. Larson for restoring my faith in politicians! Teachers doing the right thing...go figure.
Cory, thanks for correcting the record.
Mr. Larson, this would be a great project for every school district to tackle. Whether it's the speech/debate teacher, the civics teacher, or any other department or combination of departments, schools hosting such candidate events serve their core function to education students and the broader community. Keep at it!
Thank you Mr. H.
As they say: Consider the source.
I don't consider it much.
I corrected it on my site. Sometimes we get things wrong, and that is why I post certain things. I figured it would be only a matter of time before SOMEONE clarified the situation. Thank you Mr. Larson.