Howie Klein asked a good question this week: Why Are Republican Incumbents Afraid To Debate In Their Home Districts? He listed numerous races in which the GOP incumbent is ducking debates with his or her challenger, from Darcy Burner's pursuit of Dave Reichert, to Gordon Smith fleeing contact with Jeff Merkley, to Iowa's Tom Latham (IA-4), who refuses to engage Becky Greenwald. But Howie missed at least one.
Steve King (IA-5), one of the most reactionary members in the entire Congress, will not debate challenger Rob Hubler. So today some enterprising poultry went after him. Picture after the jump.
These roosters showed up at King's town hall in Sioux City today, with signs inviting people to honk if they thought King should debate. A lot of people thought so, according to observers.
King refused to accept an invitation from the Sioux City Journal and the League of Women Voters because it was "not a neutral forum." The League is a bunch of commie women or something, and the Journal was mean to him, he thinks. As if the Sioux City Journal is the New York Times. Hello, this is western Iowa.
Meanwhile, Rob Hubler is willing to debate any place that King feels OK about. "If you refuse to debate, I think what you're saying is that 'I know best what the people should hear,'" Rob said.
We used to think King was a chicken hawk. Now he's just plain old chicken.
If you know of other incumbents who refuse to debate, give them some recognition in the comments. And get yourself a chicken suit.
Update: someone just sent me more photos of the Chicken Caper. To quote my correspondent, buk buk buk buGAWK.
My sentiments, exactly.