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Bolling, Wagner debate canceled
Voters planning to watch the two lieutenant governor candidates debate in Manassas last Thursday got bad news when the event was abruptly canceled.
The candidate forum, sponsored by the Prince William Committee of 100, was supposed to take place Sept. 24 at George Mason University.
But negotiations between Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) and challenger Jody Wagner (D) broke down at the last minute and the debate was called off.
A statement by the Prince William Committee of 100 said only that "A disagreement between the candidates' campaigns over a proposed "no-use" condition that prohibited either candidate from using audio/video footage of the debate was not able to be resolved by campaigns."
But campaign staffers on both sides had plenty more to say about the matter.
"At the 11th hour, the Bolling campaign came to us and asked for a no-use agreement," said Tom Vogel, a spokesman for the Wagner campaign.
The debate was not to be televised and a no-use clause meant that neither campaign would be able to use footage from the debate in ads or on their Web sites.
"We didn't think that was appropriate," Vogel said, noting that since the debate wouldn't be televised, the no-use clause meant only the relatively small audience sitting in the room would have access to it.
Vogel said the Wagner campaign countered with an offer to limit the use of footage so neither candidate could take statements out of context. Under the Wagner proposal, the candidates would be able to post the entire debate on their Web sites or could use footage of an entire question and its entire answer, but wouldn't be able to pull out soundbites.
The Bolling campaign, Vogel said, never responded but simply pulled out of the debate.
That's not exactly the way it happened, countered Matt Wells, the campaign manager for Bolling.
Wells said his camp went into the debate under the assumption that some negotiations would be in order. For instance, he said, Bolling didn't get the moderator or the format he wanted but accepted that and continued negotiating on other points.
"We understood that compromise is part of that," he said.
As part of the negotiations, Wells said the two camps were discussing the no-use policy that the Bolling camp wanted.
But Wells said in the middle of the talks, the Wagner campaign put out a press release accusing Bolling of trying to change the rules.
The Wagner campaign did send out a press release four days before the debate, referring to Bolling as the "no-show lieutenant governor."
"We knew that Lt. Governor Bolling didn’t like to show-up for work but we didn’t expect him to also be a no-show for the first of two debates agreed upon by the campaigns months ago," the press release states. "… Now, just days before, Bill Bolling is threatening to pull out of the event if the previously agreed-upon rules aren’t changed."
At that point, Wells said, "it became pretty apparent to us that they weren't interested in having this debate or negotiating in good faith."
So Bolling pulled out.
Wagner issued a statement saying the lieutenant governor "has decided to play politics instead of participate" in the debate.
Bolling countered with a release of his own, stating that "'Quit and Run' Wagner quits debate, runs from Bolling."
The two candidates will get one more chance at an actual debate, although not in Prince William County. They are scheduled to meet at Roanoke College in Salem on Oct. 19.
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