CHOOSING A replacement for Ted Kennedy in the US Senate is one of the most important decisions Massachusetts voters have faced in years. They’ll have to render their judgment on the primary candidates after a short campaign whose final two weeks will be interrupted by the long Thanksgiving weekend. To clarify the choices, voters deserve several high-profile televised debates.
One is already on tap from 7 to 8 tonight, when the four Democratic candidates go head to head at the Kennedy Library. That debate will be carried live by most local TV stations as well as four radio stations. It’s a terrific start for the new Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, which has performed a big public service by organizing the event.
But voters would also benefit greatly from a widely televised debate on some weeknight between Thanksgiving and the Dec. 8 primary. (With state Senator Scott Brown facing only perennial candidate Jack E. Robinson in the Republican primary, there is much less need for GOP primary debates.)
Some media outlets may end up hosting their own forums, and that will help. Still, it’s crucial that voters have one can’t-miss-it TV debate in the final days of the campaign, and the Kennedy Institute’s success in pulling together tonight’s event makes it the logical sponsor. When Kennedy Institute president and chief executive Peter Meade quizzes the Democratic hopefuls tonight, he should ask this: Will you give us an ironclad commitment to participate in a final debate sometime in the last eight days before the primary?
Candidates often avoid debating that close to decision day, for fear of making a mistake that could dominate the last days of the campaign. But this is a big seat, and voters need every opportunity to take the measure of the field. Certainly no candidate who refuses to participate would be worthy of consideration as Ted Kennedy’s successor.
