Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Herenton Fears Debate Will be Unfair; Withdraws
Posted by Bruce VanWyngarden on Wed, May 12, 2010 at 2:48 PM
On the WREG Channel 3 website today, it was announced that former Memphis mayor Willie Herenton had withdrawn from a scheduled debate with his Democratic primary opponent for Congress, Steve Cohen. Herenton told Channel 3 he objected to two of the panelists who would be asking questions: WREG commentator Norm Brewer and Commercial Appeal editorial page editor Otis Sanford.
Herenton committed to the debate last September, but has had a change of heart, telling Channel 3 that he didn't think Brewer or Sanford would be "fair" with him.
This makes me unable to resist pulling out the Saturday Night Live routine, "Really?"
Really, Willie? Are you worried that they might "unfairly" ask about some of the wackadoodle moves you pulled last summer, when you resigned, and then didn't resign, and then did again, after getting your pension in a lump sum? Are you afraid they might ask about why you threatened to RUN FOR MAYOR AGAIN in the fall two weeks after resigning? Did you think those questions might make you look a little, oh, I don't know ... NUTS?
Oh, was that unfair? Really?
Or maybe you were you worried they might ask about the mess you left in the city's legal department? Or the shady contracts you signed with various vendors? Or the real estate deal for the bus station property? I could go on, or would those questions not be "fair."
Really?
I'll tell you what's not fair: You not giving the voters a chance to see you respond to questions they have a right to know the answers to.
The public did learn something important about you, however: that you're not man enough to stand up to honest scrutiny. And, they learned that despite all your macho posturing, W.W. Herenton is not very tough at all. Really.
Comments (20)
Showing 1-20 of 20
Uh, it's Otis Sanford....not Sampson.
What happens to whatever money WW raises after he loses the primary?
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Never a truer article. If he plans winning by his accomplishments alone, think again. If he can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen. He owes Memphis some honest answers.
Participants in debates, on any level, frequently have a say in who does the questioning, so I don't think WW is completely out of line for objecting to Chanel 3's choices (even if he may be out of line for challenging their fairness).
I think WW should have the right to choose one of the questioners, Steve should have the right to choose the other and each of them should have the right to approve each other's choice. I'd be curious to know who WW thinks would be "fair" to him. Jackson Baker, maybe, who's nothing if not fair, and maybe Alex Coleman, who treated WW with kid gloves during the early morning show interview he conducted a couple months ago might be two possibilities.
I can't help but think, though, that this is a ploy by WW, designed as a pretext to avoid subjecting himself to what he has to know will be some tough questioning, no matter who does it. This way, he can say "see, I was willing to debate, but..."
More and more Willie Herenton's actions remind me of the final scene in "Sunset Boulevard", in which aging silent movie queen Norma Desmond descends down the grand staircase of her home, delusional and fantasizing she's on the set of her new movie, with adoring fans and press gathered below her. Except Norma was ready for her close-up. Willie would just assume Mr. DeMille would stay the hell away.
It's hard to debate your opponent when the sole basis of your campaign is vote for the black guy.
I suspect this has more to do with Channel 3's unwillingness to give him the questions in advance, and letting him pick the ones he wants to answer.
It's hard to debate your opponent when you can't even get your own name spelled right on your web site.
If I were either Norm Brewer or Otis Sanford, I'd be walking around with a feather in my cap for the next few weeks.
Us commenters always run the risk of making people decide not to deal with us. Sometimes we need them as much or more than they need us. WWH didn't invent the debate format veto, and 60 days seems like enough time to work this out. Jackson Baker would be excellent on the question panel. The hatred of WWH in the CA is borderline irrational.
john branston
This is too funny, if he thinks a simple local debate is unfair, just wait till it's national news. The rest of the country don't know slick Willie like we do, when they get a whiff of his stench he'll be the laughing stock. He doesn't have what it takes to swim with the sharks, he's bait.......
I say we schedule a PUBLIC debate, maybe at the Shell, and let the audience ask the questions--I bet we could get Palazola to donate some audience feedback.
I know Steve would show and if Willie didn't, we could all take the tomatoes to his house.
in spite of the high level of hatred in the white community for "A sassy, arrogant, egotistical negro", Willie Herenton is still loved and respected in his community--District 9. Does calling this man a liar among other derogatory names make way for a harmonious community of two races, one "white" and one "black"? Is Cohen willing to give up his power of whiteness. If not, why should we? Tell Cohen to renounce his white ID tag and jest be Jewish. I bet that Herenton will match point that.
I've got some news for you, Maia: based on my admittedly statistically insignificant surveys (yes, not to be trite, but "some of my best friends" actually are black), there's a high level of contempt in the black community for Herenton as well.
Believe it or not, black voters aren't the sheep Herenton thinks they are. A lot of them are very angry at Herenton for turning his back on the black community (which he quite clearly did), AND for thinking so little of them that he (a) thinks he's ENTITLED to their vote, and (b) thinks they have short memories.
As for Cohen renouncing his "white ID tag and jest [sic] be[ing] Jewish," I'm pretty sure Steve doesn't consider either being white or being Jewish as his defining (or redeeming) features. Sadly, it doesn't appear Herenton can say the same thing about being black.
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