In one hour from this posting (at 8pm), Democratic challenger Rick Noriega will be debating incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn on public television, shown locally on KLRU-TV.
Frankly, given his lack of name ID and lack of funds to create any name ID, I don’t think there is anything he can do to defeat Cornyn. Still, the latest poll showed him at 43% support, only seven points away from Cornyn. So maybe …
Given that slim bit of hope, I think there are two main things he needs to do to capitalize on tonight’s debate (and the next one, held one week from today):
1. Don’t have that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look that he so often has when he gets asked challenging questions. I certainly hope he has really worked hard on the debate prep for all eventualities.
2. Hammer Cornyn hard on his support for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout. Congress may have been sold on it, but the public hasn’t. Cornyn has opened up a window of vulnerability.
That said, I’m afraid this really isn’t that big an opportunity for Noriega. Unlike the zillions who watch presidential debates (shown on multiple channels), I’m afraid there won’t be but about 10 people watching a Senate debate on public television. Which is unfortunate, because getting a veto-proof Democratic majority in the Senate could be crucial to Obama having a successful presidency. (EDIT: Oh, duh, I’m an idiot. What I obviously meant to say is that the Dems would need a veto-proof majority in the event of a McCain presidency.)
Over the airwaves, KLRU is on channel 18. On cable (Time Warner or Grande), it’s on channel 9.
This article appears in October 3 • 2008.