LEXINGTON, Ky. _ U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell threw down a challenge to former fighter pilot Amy McGrath on Wednesday, calling for the Democratic Senate candidate to debate him in a "socially distanced, Lincoln-Douglas style debate."
"This would be a debate just between the two of us. No notes at the table, no props, and no audience," McConnell wrote in the letter, which was mailed Wednesday. "Kentuckians deserve clear answers from each of us on the issues that matter most, and this is the best format to deliver those answers. Team Mitch is eager to work with a Kentucky TV station with statewide reach to put together such a debate."
McConnell's request for a debate is reminiscent of McGrath's 2018 campaign against U.S. Rep. Andy Barr. In that campaign, Barr challenged McGrath to seven debates and criticized McGrath for only agreeing to participate in one debate, on KET. He went to several small candidate forums throughout Kentucky's 6th Congressional District and criticized McGrath for not attending.
McGrath's campaign declined to comment Wednesday, but McGrath tweeted that she was eager to debate McConnell.
"If you're serious about debating DM me instead of hiding behind the press," she wrote.
Traditionally, it is the challenger, not the incumbent, who calls for more debates. Public polling has shown McConnell with anywhere between a 6- to 17-percentage-point lead over McGrath. Typically, the leading candidate doesn't want to give their opponent an opportunity to pick up momentum in a debate.
But in three years of campaigning, debates have never been McGrath's strong suit. In an early debate in Northern Kentucky for the Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate, 88% of the people who attended said they would support one of her opponents, political newcomer Mike Broihier. Later, Rep. Charles Booker was boosted by a televised debate on KET and even used one of McGrath's answers _ she appeared unprepared to answer why she didn't attend protests over racial inequality _ in an attack ad.
It is unlikely Kentuckians will see McGrath and McConnell debate using the format McConnell proposed. While politicians often wax nostalgic about the Lincoln-Douglas debates _ a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas as the two campaigned to represent Illinois in the United States Senate in 1858 _ it is a format that is largely outdated in the era of television. In those debates, one candidate talked for 60 minutes, followed by the other candidate for 90 minutes and 30 minutes for a rebuttal.
McConnell also called for a moderator who would serve only as a time-keeper, freeing the politicians to make long-winded speeches rather than be pinned down on specific questions, and for no audience, which would be rather different from the Lincoln-Douglas debates, where the debates drew spectators looking for the opportunity to see the two candidates speak.
Mark Summers, a history professor at the University of Kentucky, said the ability to bring supporters to the debates was crucial because the candidates would play off of the crowds' reaction. Those who couldn't attend were able to read transcripts of the debates in newspapers.
"I don't think you could make it remotely similar," Summers said. "Audiences don't have that kind of patience."
In 2014, McConnell issued a similar letter to Democratic nominee Alison Lundergan Grimes. That Lincoln-Douglas debate did not take place. He also challenged Democrat Bruce Lunsford to a Lincoln-Douglas style debate in 2008. Lunsford accepted.
While McConnell did not say who he would like to be moderator, radio host Matt Jones tweeted that he would be willing to moderate. Jones, who has moderated Democratic and Republican primary debates, would be an unlikely choice. Not only did he write a book criticizing McConnell called "Mitch Please," he also endorsed Booker in the primary and has been critical of McGrath's campaign after they complained about his television show while he mulled whether or not he would run for Senate.
McConnell has also pressured McGrath to attend the Kentucky Farm Bureau's candidate forum, which traditionally serves as one of the earliest debates in the general election. Typically, the candidates also appear in KET's candidate forum. McConnell, McGrath and Libertarian candidate Brad Barron have already qualified for KET's candidate forum.
