Arizona Senate race: Why Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema seem so scripted – Yvonne Wingett Sanchez (azcentral.com) / Oct 7 2018
During the late Sen. John McCain’s three-decade political career, Arizona voters grew accustomed to his willingness to engage in back-and-forth with the public at town hall meetings, indulge reporters at unscripted media gaggles, and joust with his challengers in formal debates.
Neither candidate in Arizona’s 2018 Senate race between Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Martha McSally, has embraced McCain’s free-wheeling campaign style.
Both candidates have limited their exposure to campaign events that dovetail with their talking points or feature them rallying supporters as much as possible. Along with their political allies, McSally and Sinema are counting on a multimillion-dollar TV ad war to reach voters and shape the image they will use to judge them.
In one instance, Sinema literally bolted from a reporter to avoid an unscripted moment. She said she was simply late for an event.
Last month,hours after CNN tied Sinema to provocative anti-war fliers from 2003, the Democratic candidate sped out a back door of a Democratic get-out-the-vote event in Chandler, avoiding an Arizona Republic reporter there to ask for comment about the controversy.
Sinema had shown up at the tail-end of the event to urge Democrats to unite behind her bid for the U.S. Senate.
After a five-minute speech laden with well-worn lines, Sinema disappeared behind stage curtains, and, ignoring the reporter’s shouts to talk about the fliers, speed-walked through the backstage and into a parking lot, where she hopped into a waiting SUV.
Still pursued by the reporter, Sinema said she had no time for questions.
McSally performed a similar escape days before the Aug. 28 primary election.
A local TV reporter repeatedly asked her if President Donald Trump, whose support she has touted, was trustworthy. The questions came amid headlines about Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer, who had recently pleaded guilty to charges involving bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance violations.
McSally cautiously talked around the questions a couple of times before spinning on her heel and walking away.
A spokeswoman said McSally had already taken questions for 10 minutes and reporters had been warned she needed to leave.
McSally and Sinema have gone to great lengths to avoid talking in-depth to voters and the news media about the biggest political questions of the day.
Instead of talking spontaneously and in detail about their reactions to Trump’s latest controversies, to how, specifically, they would approach reforms to health care, at candidate debates and forums, McSally and Sinema have largely centered their candidacies on choreographed campaign appearances aimed at insulating them from making missteps.
From their perspective, the cautious approach makes sense, especially in a tight race such as the McSally-Sinema slugfest, which is rated a toss-up. No candidate has a clear advantage, so each aims to stay on-message to avoid a game-changing gaffe. The modern campaign era of trackers and a public with mobile phones means any gaffe can go viral almost immediately.
“It’s a common strategy more and more for candidates to want to put themselves in situations where they can control the message,” said Kate Kenski, an associate professor who teaches political communication at the University of Arizona.
Debates, candidate town halls, forums and venues where regular voters get face-time with the candidates exposes them to the risk of stumbles that could redefine the race, she said.
“We often gain most insight about who people are not by who they tell us they are but rather in those spontaneous, authentic moments,” Kenski said.
The strategy deprives voters of seeing the candidates in candid moments and offering straightforward answers that could inform voters. It also prevents voters from seeing how they operate when they are challenged.
“It would just be really nice for the candidates to get down to the point,” said Teresa Clark, a Republican voter with independent leanings from Mesa. “They seem to just be giving you talking points on why not to vote for the other person — it’s actually frustrating as a voter … You want to understand the candidates’ views and points and how they’re going to represent you.
“I’ve not even seen any debates.”
Sinema and McSally both refused to debate their primary opponents. They have yet to debate each other, although negotiations are ongoing.
The vast majority of Arizona voters, about 80 percent, will cast an early ballot via mail. Voters on the Permanent Early Voting List should receive ballots around Oct. 11 and they will not have seen the candidates interact by then.
Polling conducted at the end of September 2018 showed Democrat Kyrsten Sinema with a slight edge over Republican Martha McSally in the race for U.S. Senate. (Photo: The Republic)
Both campaigns dispute perception
Both campaigns disagree with the characterization that the candidates are not willing to talk about their positions in meaningful ways. But each campaign slams the other for doing just that.
Torunn Sinclair, McSally’s spokeswoman, argued that McSally explains her positions on the issues and routinely takes questions from the press, including a recent 40-minute interview on a local radio station.
“Arizonans aren’t afforded the same opportunity with Kyrsten Sinema,” Sinclair said in a written statement. “Total False Equivalency!”
James Owens, Sinema’s spokesman, said Sinema has had more than 100 “press interactions” over the past year, including 40 since July.
He cast McSally as “hostile” to questioning by the press and said her delay in committing to a debate illustrated her political calculations when deciding whether to “show up and defend her” record.
