The Cap Times: Why is MAGA Extremist Congressman Tom Tiffany Avoiding Multiple Debates?

MADISON, Wis. — A new editorial from The Cap Times slams MAGA extremist Congressman Tom Tiffany for refusing to participate in more than one debate, forcing the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association to cancel their debate for the first time in over 30 years. Veteran journalists called Congressman Tiffany’s rejection “truly disappointing” and the editorial calls the move “one more indication of Tiffany’s disregard for Wisconsinites who don’t happen to be billionaires” as he’s caught “begging off.”
 

The CapTimes: Editorial | Why is Tom Tiffany avoiding multiple debates?
 

• Crowley, an engaging contender with a deep knowledge of Wisconsin affairs, was enthusiastic about the prospect of facing his opponent; indeed, his campaign announced, “David was looking forward to participating in this debate and continuing the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association’s more than 30-year tradition of putting candidates directly before voters statewide.”

• Jill Geisler, the veteran broadcast journalist who was slated to moderate the WBA debate, said on social media that Tiffany’s decision was “truly disappointing” and “it would have been a service to voters.”

• So why is Tiffany begging off? He told a Milwaukee radio station, “I think one debate will be sufficient to cover the issues in this race.”

• That’s wrong. And Tiffany knows it.

• He’s been around politics for decades as a constant candidate for state and federal posts. He has to recognize that a one-hour debate is absolutely insufficient to cover the issues in this race.

• What gives? It’s becoming clear that Tiffany hopes he can win the gubernatorial contest with a slurry of negative television ads funded by out-of-state billionaires — such as Illinoisans Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein — who are his chief backers. As we head toward the Nov. 3 election, crude ads that are thick with innuendo and attacks on Crowley — paid for by groups that back Tiffany — are already sliming the airwaves from Rhinelander to Eau Claire, and from La Crosse to Milwaukee.

• Why is Tiffany relying on negative ads rather than accepting opportunities to engage in honest discourse? Before the August primary, Tiffany and his wealthy supporters poured millions of dollars into ads that dominated the television airwaves. Many of them were feel-good commercials that sought to remake the candidate’s image from that of an extreme right-wing, Donald Trump-aligned career politician to that of a likeable rural Wisconsinite.

• Unfortunately for Tiffany, the voters weren’t impressed by the clumsy attempt at a political makeover.

• When the primary results set him up for a race against Democratic nominee David Crowley, and the first polls were done, a striking reality emerged. Despite all the self-promotional advertising, Tiffany trailed Crowley, and the Republican’s approval ratings were decidedly uninspired.

• But Tiffany has clearly decided that he can’t win a wide-ranging series of debates against an experienced administrator such as Crowley, a former legislator who now serves as Milwaukee County executive.

• So Tom Tiffany is skipping the WBA debate and any others that might be proposed and opting instead for the low road of crude negative ads funded by the wealthy donors he has always served.

• It is just one more indication of Tiffany’s disregard for Wisconsinites who don’t happen to be billionaires.