AUSTIN -- During an event in San Antonio, Gov. Rick Perry again on Monday affirmed plans not to attend an October debate in Austin because his Democratic challenger will not release some of his tax returns. However, for some, the threat of a non-debate is a non-issue.
"I've tried to bring it up many times,” said KLBJ-AM afternoon drive time host Jeff Ward. "(Listeners) are apathetic to a debate at all, they don't even think it offers them anything."
The campaigns hope the pre-debate back-and-forth offers both of them the chance to score political points.
Perry's campaign says he will not debate until Democrat Bill White releases certain income tax records.
White’s campaign says the governor's just running scared from a debate.
And Texas gubernatorial debates offer a lot to be scared of, like "gotcha" moments including one in 2006 which caught Republican candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn clearly off guard regarding the recently elected president of Mexico.
Despite those risks, experts say Perry and White are all but certain to have at least one debate between now and November. They also say, from Perry’s perspective, there is no reason to rush.
“Gov. Perry has the most to lose; he's ahead in the polls, he's the incumbent, so a lot of the negative energy is going to be focused on him at this stage,” said political science professor Brian Smith of St. Edward’s University.
Still, for at least some callers on talk radio this is a debate that could wait.
