April 05, 2016 08:32 PM UTC

Debate Diary: Grading the GOP U.S. Senate Debate on 9News

• 1 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Eight of the leading Republican candidates for U.S. Senate participated in the first televised debate of the campaign on 9News on Tuesday evening. We watched the entire debate and graded the candidates on stage, much like we did last week following a debate in Weld County.

There are around 13 candidates seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, and eight of the top contenders participated in the 9News debate tonight: Robert Blaha, Ryan Frazier, Darryl Glenn, Jack Graham, Jon Keyser, Peg Littleton, Jerry Natividad, and Tim Neville.

Before we begin, there are a couple of issues in which candidates agreed across-the-board, including the first question; all 8 candidates on stage promised to support Donald Trump if he is the Republican nominee for President.

And now, the debate grades…

Colorado Pols Debate Diary
Grading the April 5 Republican Senate Debate on 9News 

Robert Blaha
Grade: A

Tuesday’s debate was a great performance for Blaha, who spoke first, spoke often, and was easily the candidate with the most camera time. Blaha answered each question clearly, directly, and efficiently, and showed a bit of a fire in his belly that we hadn’t yet seen from him.

Keyser tried throwing Blaha him an early fastball by attacking him for statements (which he doesn’t seem to have made) about Keyser’s military service; Blaha crushed Keyser’s attack by repeatedly saying that he never said these things and that Keyser’s campaign knows he never said them. In response, Keyser muttered something quiet and then quickly retreated, clearly sensing that this line of attack had backfired.

Blaha had the best line of the night when asked a question about a Democrat he can work with. “I would say Jack Graham,” said Blaha, in reference to the fact that Graham was a registered Democrat about 18 months ago. The comment angered Graham, but it was a genuinely funny and clever line.

Blaha was also very disciplined in keeping to his message as an “outsider” and not a career politician. Republican voters who might not have known much about Blaha undoubtedly see him in a more positive light after tonight.

—–

Tim Neville
GRADE: B

Neville was once again among the top performers in the 9News debate — just as he was in Weld County last week — but his grade drops a tad because he wasn’t able to interject himself very often into the discussion.

When Neville did speak, however, he was very disciplined about sticking to his two top talking points. Neville always talks about walking the walk, so to speak, because he has proven in his time in the state Senate that he will pursue the policy goals he lays out in his campaign. His other big talking point is repeating that he has a record of defeating a difficult Democratic incumbent, when he was elected to his current seat in 2014.

Neville gave off a definite air of confidence throughout the debate, which made him naturally appear to be the frontrunner that he is.

—–

Jack Graham
Grade: B-

This was the first time we really had a chance to hear Graham speak at length, and he was pretty good. It certainly appeared as though Graham’s game plan was to look and act “Senatorial,” and he played the role very well. His answers were clear and understandable, and he sounded like his own man instead of the rote right-wing Republican caricature that we have come to expect from most GOP candidates.

Graham also took a dig at Keyser over the former’s comments about not raising taxes and balancing the budget. Graham talked about his experience as a business owner and executive, which he said is much more substantial and meaningful than whatever votes Keyser may have cast in his half-term in the legislature.

—–

Darryl Glenn
Grade: C

Glenn has shown himself to be a charismatic speaker in previous GOP Senate forums, but tonight was not a good stage for him. Glenn does better when he can be on his feet, walking around on stage in a jovial manner, and he seems to be uncomfortable when forced to remain seated.

Glenn did get to repeat his line that he is “Michael Bennet’s worst nightmare.” Somehow, we doubt that, but whatever. Glenn also promised that he would “bring the house down” on Saturday during the Republican state convention in Colorado Springs.

Glenn was also among the candidates to take a shot at Keyser over the former’s chest-pounding about voting against the state budget during his half-term as a state legislator. Glenn questioned this “experience,” given that he and many other candidates have years and years of budgeting experience among them.

In total, Glenn landed several good clean shots at Keyser that could prove damaging, but he didn’t talk enough about who he is and why you should support him.

—–

Ryan Frazier
Grade: C

Frazier was a paid political analyst for 9News for a few years, which probably benefitted him tonight as he was repeatedly called upon to answer questions or expand on other comments. There may be no other candidate, sans Blaha, who received more speaking time on stage; the difference between Blaha and Frazier, however, is that Frazier failed to say anything remotely memorable or interesting.

—– 

Jerry Natividad
Grade: C-

This was not a great showing for the little-known Natividad, who had plenty of opportunity to speak, but much like Ryan Frazier, couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity. Natividad’s answers were kind of meandering at times, and he just didn’t do much that would help him stand out in this crowd.

Natividad’s best moment came in the closing statements, when he talked about being a business owner in Colorado whose company created hundreds of jobs.

—– 

Jon Keyser
Grade: D

This was an awful night for Keyser, who took fire from all sides and quickly wilted in the face of so much opposition. Were it not for Peg Littleton’s nuttiness, Keyser would have been the clear loser tonight…though you could certainly argue that he deserved a last-place tie.

Other candidates repeatedly criticized Keyser for his inexperience, which clearly flustered Keyser, and 9News regularly brought up the fact that Keyser is the “establishment” Republican choice because of his connection to the NRSC. Keyser’s response to that question was to name off a couple of high-profile endorsements he has received…from establishment Republicans. “You did list two establishment guys and Tom Tancredo,” noted moderator Brandon Rittiman.

Blaha, Glenn, and Graham all took shots at Keyser under the same general theme of inexperience. This could have been a great opportunity for Keyser to show his leadership chops in his responses, but he wilted quickly and almost seemed to concede many of his opponents’ barbs.

At one point early in the debate, Keyser absolutely had his ass handed to him when he tried challenging Robert Blaha over alleged statements about Keyser’s background that Keyser insists were criticism of his military record — which appears to be a complete fabrication from Keyser’s camp. Blaha was calm and collected in responding to Keyser’s silly claims at first, but then he raised his voice in irritation over the false allegations and basically shouted Keyser down. Keyser seemed paralyzed over how to respond to this, which has been pretty typical fare for the former legislator; he’s fine when he can talk about his military background, but anytime the discussion moves elsewhere, Keyser gets totally lost.

When Keyser wasn’t under attack from the other candidates, he was earning the ire of the debate moderators for his penchant to dance around questions. At one point, Keyser’s rambling nonsense was interrupted; moderator Kyle Clark chastised him for giving a “non-answer,” and the questioning moved on to another candidate. Not a good look for Keyser.

The good news for Keyser was that he ended up being seated center-stage (9News seated the candidates alphabetically), which gave a visual impression that he was one of the leaders in the current field.

—– 

Peg Littleton
Grade: D

Littleton is just kind of silly. In answering a question about fracking in Colorado, Littleton again repeated a version of her answer from the Weld County debate by saying that she knows there is data that fracking does not cause earthquakes and is totally safe.

Later, Littleton ranted about “bigotry” in society because men don’t need a prescription to buy condoms but women need prescriptions for birth control bills, or something. It didn’t make much sense. In a question about whether or not she is pro-life, she said that she opposed abortion and was strongly personally pro-life, but that she did not believe that government should be telling women what they can or cannot do.

Littleton also once again brought out her ridiculous line about her name ID advantage; she seems convinced that Colorado voters associate the word “Littleton” with Peg…and not the city in Metro Denver.