In a bold political move, mayoral candidate and City Councilor At-Large Peggy Davis-Mullen challenged Mayor Thomas Menino to spar in six hour-long debates from June until Election Day.
Each debate would focus on a different major issue, which would be chosen alternately by one of the competitors.
Menino, who ran unopposed in the last mayoral vote and who has an 85 percent approval rating, has yet to deliver a definite response to Davis-Mullen’s proposal. He did, however, tell the Boston Herald last week he wouldn’t necessarily agree to the debates.
Menino said he believes his actions will speak louder than his words and that there is no need to debate with Davis-Mullen, who he told the Herald is a better speaker than he is.
Karen Sharma, a spokeswoman for Davis-Mullen, said the councilor thinks crucial issues are not being addressed, adding that the current administration has not dealt well with issues such as affordable housing and public education.
Davis-Mullen proposes that they both choose three issues to debate. Davis-Mullen already stated her topics as affordable housing, public education and development and is open to other issues the mayor wishes to debate.
“These are three crucial issues that she’s been working on,” Sharma said. “Davis-Mullen has spent the past decade working on public education and years working on affordable housing. … She’s a leading voice for working families in the city.”
Davis-Mullen said her proposal to cover only a single issue per debate would help the candidates “really focus on things” and “get in-depth and not gloss over things.”
According to Davis-Mullen, public debate is the cornerstone of the democratic process.
“The people deserve to hear about issues that affect their daily lives,” Sharma said. “The mayor has been unchallenged for eight years. It doesn’t matter if Davis-Mullen is a better speaker. … People still need to hear the issues.”
Despite being 58 points behind the incumbent, according to a recent Herald poll, and having an inferior budget, Davis-Mullen said she is optimistic about the role the debates would play in her campaign.
“She feels that people will hear her views and realize that she is a stronger and better candidate,” Sharma said.
Davis-Mullen’s campaign team is still searching for media outlets and community groups willing to host the debates, although they’ve already received an offer from Boston University professor David Brudnoy of WBZ Radio’s “The David Brudnoy Show.”
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