Rantz: KING 5 gubernatorial debate was embarrassing and a waste of time

KING 5 hosted the Washington gubernatorial debate between Republican Dave Reichert and Democrat Bob Ferguson. Everyone involved in the planning and execution of this debacle should never be allowed near a debate stage again. Officially, KING 5, The Seattle Times, KREM 2, and El Sol de Yakima were the hosts for the debate.

Washington is facing serious crises: violent crime is surging, especially among juveniles, gas and housing prices are through the roof, and homelessness is out of control. On top of that, too many are dying from drug overdoses. These issues demand attention.

It would be great if voters were able to hear a substantive debate on these issues. But we didn’t. KING 5 designed a debate that only allowed one minute responses from Reichert and Ferguson and 45 second rebuttals. It was a joke.

Was this the worst version of a debate KING 5 could produce?

How do you solve the crime crisis? You can’t answer that loaded question in 60 seconds. How do we get housing costs under control? They gave 45 seconds for that one. Can you explain how you’ll rein in government spending in a minute? Of course not. No one could with such a short allotment of time.

Reichert did his best to get specific. He pointed out that while Ferguson was on a hiring spree for hundreds of attorneys, Democrats were running cops out of town. Reichert rightfully called out Ferguson for helping legalize drugs, while expecting us to believe he’ll fix the crisis. And he highlighted how Ferguson was conveniently silent on the soft-on-crime policies his party passed, which got us into this mess.

Ferguson, meanwhile, danced around tough questions, made laughable promises to fix problems he helped create, whined about Reichert fact checking him in real time, and mentioned Donald Trump more times than Kamala Harris did in her own presidential debate. Ferguson’s got a sickness — a bizarre obsession with Trump that he hopes Washington voters share.

KING 5 didn’t serve anyone

KING 5 served no one but themselves, and the irony is, they failed even at that.

In a petty move, KING 5 refused to allow a simulcast of the Washington gubernatorial debate, trying to funnel viewers to their own network. Even the national networks didn’t stoop that low — they allowed simulcasts of presidential debates because they understood voters deserve to hear where candidates stand. But KING 5? They couldn’t care less.

The real kicker? The debate they hoped would bring them attention won’t even do that. The format was a joke, and the set looked like a high school drama club’s attempt at stage design. The podiums wobbled, the lighting was so bad it cast distracting shadows on Reichert, and the whole production screamed amateur hour. The drama kids at Auburn Riverside High School (Go Ravens!) could have done a better job.

These details matter — unless, of course, you don’t care how you come off. And maybe that’s the point. KING 5 didn’t care about putting on a quality debate. They just wanted to pat themselves on the back for hosting one.

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