A first-time candidate for office should grab every chance to promote his candidacy. Not Scottie Mayfield, the Athens businessman who is seeking the Republican nomination in Tennessee’s 3rd District primary election. He’s hiding from the public. First, he turned down the chance to appear at a Chattanooga Tea Party forum. Now, he’s refused an invitation to face incumbent Chuck Fleischmann and challengers Weston Wamp and Ron Bhalla in a May 21 debate sponsored by The Chattanooga Times Free Press and WRCB-TV.
Primary season is still in its infancy, but a disconcerting pattern is emerging from Mayfield’s camp. The candidate avoids public debate and speaks only to friendly groups. That is the only explanation for the candidate’s refusals — and for an email to this paper from Joe Hendrix, Mayfield’s campaign spokesman, regarding the May 21 event.
“Scottie believes the majority of those who attend debates have already made up their mind who they are going to vote for,” Hendrix wrote. “The issues are not where the candidates differ, it’s experience.” Hendrix did write that Mayfield has several public appearances scheduled but declined to name them, adding that the candidate plans to “connect with undecided voters, one on one.” Huh?
How are voters supposed to “connect” with the candidate or, more importantly, measure the man, his “experience” or his views on vital district and national issues if they don’t know where or when he will appear? Mayfield, it seems, prefers to distance himself from voters rather than engage them.
No wonder. Some of his public appearances have turned into disasters. One captured on a widely circulated YouTube video shows the candidate inarticulately answering a simple query about his goals if elected. Mayfield tells assembled students that district residents will have to wait until he gets to Congress to find out. Voters deserve a better answer than that.