With two televised debates now in their rear-view mirror, the major party candidates for Illinois Governor are now in the home stretch for the November election.
SIU Debate Professor Todd Graham says he'd give Governor JB Pritzker an A- or B+, while State Senator Darren Bailey would earn a C-. Graham says Bailey's points too often were negative, with no solution for how to fix specific problems.
"He wanted to avoid specifics, and I understand - in debates we do that. But he would have had a better debate had he gone more specific, and had he had more specifics on the gloom and doom, and on the examples, he'd have been a lot better."
Overall, Graham says the debates were successful - he praised the moderators not just for keeping things under control, but for holding candidates accountable when they tried to dodge questions or redirect the focus.
He also says voters must pay more attention to debates - and demand their elected officials take part in them. He says those public forums give the electorate a better picture of the candidates and their campaigns, rather than controlled messaging.
