Collegiate Times

United States Senate candidates Mark Warner and Jim Gilmore will face off in the first statewide, televised debate of the election season on Oct. 3. The debate will be carried by WSLS of Roanoke. WSLS is offering to provide the debate to any station wanting to carry the contest.

While the Oct. 3 debate is the third one taking place between the candidates, it's the first to be broadcast to a statewide audience. A previous debate between the two Senate hopefuls, taking place at the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, was broadcast only in the Northern Virginia region, while an earlier debate at the Homestead Resort was not broadcast at all.

The first attempt for a televised debate between the two candidates did not succeed because Warner declined to participate.

This debate was to be sponsored by the League of Women Voters, who during the 2006 election season had held a televised debate between then-senator George Allen and eventual winner Jim Webb. Officials from the Friends of Mark Warner attributed the missed debate to a scheduling conflict.

"Due to a demanding campaign schedule, the Warner campaign was unable to accommodate that request for a specific date and time by their deadline of Aug. 25th and had to decline their invitation," said Emily Kryder, press secretary for Friends of Mark Warner, in a statement.

According to another statement released by the League of Women Voters, the group had issued invitations to both campaigns in June when both candidates were certified.

Craig Brians, a professor of political science at Virginia Tech, said that seeing candidates participate in debates could be a large help to voters.

"One of the key advantages to seeing candidates in a debate is that the people know it isn't a campaign ad, so the candidates aren't able to control everything that happens at the event," said Brians.  "It adds an air of legitimacy to candidates' Vresponses."  

Brians also acknowledged a candidate's wariness to appear in a televised debate.

"It's a big drawback to front-runners to appear in a televised debate. They can lose by appearing in the debates and then have something go wrong that makes them look bad," Brians said.

On the flip side, he also pointed out the harmful effects to trailing candidates by not getting televised. "Without debates and the exposure they can bring it really can hurt a campaign," Brians said.

Despite the lack of opportunities to debate Warner, the Gilmore campaign remained upbeat.

"We're not missing anything. People are missing a chance to hear both candidates talk about the issues," said Dick Leggitt, campaign manager for Jim Gilmore. Leggitt expressed confidence in Gilmore's abilities when the two debate.

"The thing about Jim Gilmore is he is who he is, while Warner is one thing one day and another thing the next day. People will get a chance to see this when they see the two debate," Leggitt said.

At the moment Warner holds a substantial lead over Gilmore.

According to the latest poll from Rasmussen Reports, Warner leads by a margin of 59 percent to 33 percent. The candidates are vying for the seat of retiring Republican Senator John Warner.