Michael Lawler

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler has challenged his Democratic opponent, Cait Conley, to six debates in New York's 17th Congressional District race.

Conley has not yet agreed to any debates, despite previously stating Lawler was afraid to face her.

The author argues that debates are crucial for voters in this high-stakes election, which could influence the balance of power in Congress.

The USA TODAY Network New York has proposed hosting a foreign policy debate between the two candidates.

Why won’t Cait debate?

We are now less than 80 days from the beginning of early voting in the historic Hudson Valley election for New York's 17th Congressional District, a race that may well determine the balance of power in congress for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s second and final term in the White House.

The stakes couldn’t be higher in this midterm battle between incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Lawler and his Democratic challenger, Cait Conley. The entire nation is watching.

The critical importance of this election correlates to the tens of millions of dollars in print and TV ads that will be spent before ballots are cast in November.

Immediately following Conley’s decisive primary victory, Lawler proposed a robust schedule of six debates before the Nov 3rd election.

We are approaching six weeks since Lawler threw down the gauntlet and so far, his upstart challenger has not agreed to a single debate.

Tough-talking Conley needs to make good on her promises

In late June, Conley told MSNOW's Morning Joe that Lawler was afraid to square off with her. That's ringing a little hollow now.

Conley promised to “Kick Lawler’s **s!” in a primary candidate forum at Manhattanville College in April.

Her recalcitrance in accepting Lawler's challenge, a member of the House foreign affairs committee, to engage in a face-to-face debate is perplexing. It's confusing because Conley's experience in military, government and private security consulting should be a tremendous advantage in articulating her position against Lawler's support for Trump's inconsistent, and at times, contradictory foreign policies.

The establishment Democrats have already made it clear that they are afraid of going head-to-head with Lawler in an unscripted exchange of ideas. They begged, badgered and berated the neighboring congressional Democrat, Rep. George Latimer of New York's 16th Congressional District, a proven top-notch debater, into backing out of a joint appearance with Lawler that was scheduled for June 7, where they were set to discuss the war in Iran and other middle east challenges. Sad.

It would seem logical that a challenger like Conley, who has no record to defend and who never lived in the district until launching her campaign, would want to get Lawler and his record squarely in her crosshairs of criticism, in a live setting, with nowhere for him to hide.

Conley has been loudly, yet vaguely, critical of Trump's increasingly unpopular Iran war and his myriad military actions and global saber-rattling. This is her wheelhouse. Geo-political news is breaking daily. She should be ready for prime time now.

There is a history of incumbents who have been reluctant to debate over the years being dogged by operatives in chicken costumes. But I can’t remember a challenger in such a nationally critical race dodging the sitting politician’s entreaties to get in the ideological boxing ring.

When people ask me about the midterms and I mention that I'm most interested in the NY-17 contest, they always know that's the Lawler campaign. Very few know his challenger's name.

As recently as the last gubernatorial race, the conservative tabloid New York Post published a made-up image of Gov. Kathy Hochul as a chicken while she seemed to dodge a debate with her Republican challenger, Lee Zeldin, the former Long Island Republican congressman who now helms the Environmental Protection Agency.

How pathetic would it be if one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the House had to deploy operatives in chicken suits or AI images to goad his opponent, a West Point graduate and war veteran of multiple combat tours, to take him on in an unscripted battle of policy prescriptions?

A pile of cash for ad makers and outlets, but will voters get stiffed?

I recently spoke to a long-time New York City TV newsman who works for a network affiliate about anticipated ad spending in the NY-17 contest. He predicted that his station and their competitors would net up to $5 million in ad revenue per outlet based on the massive sums that will be spent by the campaigns along with a crowd of ancillary PACs in Washington, D.C.

That’s great for local news outlets — my own included, I hope. But it provides nothing to undecided voters.

I’ve suffered, along with all the registered voters in the Hudson Valley, receiving the endless campaign mail pieces that could easily be mistaken for 1970s horror movie posters with photo shopped images of the opposing candidate in dark and ominous color tones, overlayed with an out of context phrase that purports to advocate for starving the elderly or feeding lead paint chips to school kids.

It’s all nonsense. More importantly, it is wildly insulting to the electorate.

Canned zingers in TV ads and mailers, cooked up by campaign consultants, erode our political discourse. They don’t educate. They don’t differentiate. For undecided voters, they alienate.

Conley likes to call Lawler a rubber stamp for Trump on social media and at campaign events. A recent commercial supporting the Conley campaign's claim that Lawler is in lock step with Trump repeatedly hammers the phrase "Think Lawler Trump" like some kind of mantra meant to hypnotize voters.

She's going to have a hard time making that stick in a face-to-face setting. Just this week, the nonpartisan Bridge Report gave Lawler a bipartisan grade of 9.2 out of 10. That's among the highest in either chamber of Congress.

The USA TODAY Network New York and lohud/Journal News editorial board propose a debate, focused on foreign policy, a top line issue in federal government, to discuss the rapidly changing war with Iran that has spiked gas prices, driven up costs of groceries and has cost 17 American soldiers’ lives. Another 600+ have been injured.

I'm still in discussions with some venues and organizations about hosting the debate. My preference would be an American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars post. That should be a comfortable setting for Conley.

Ms. Conley, you frequently say you stood up to serve your country in the days after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. As we mark a quarter century since that darkest of days, I thank you for your service.

Now, though, you should answer the voters’ call for a fair and fully debated election at this most crucial moment in our country’s history.

Matt Richter, a veteran Hudson Valley journalist, is local news and regional opinion manager for lohud.com and The Journal News.