Josh Stein plays it safe – and wrong – with his refusal to debate Mark Robinson | Opinion

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is running for governor in an usual way. He’s letting his Republican opponent do the talking.

Stein’s ads feature video clips of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s inflammatory statements on abortion. The approach has worked. Stein, a Democrat, has opened a wide lead in the polls by using Robinson’s own words against him.

But now Stein says the sensibilities of North Carolina voters are too delicate to hear Robinson speak in a debate format. His campaign said this week that he will not accept Robinson’s challenge to meet for a televised debate.

The campaign that has spent a fortune airing Robinson’s most controversial remarks now says it will not give him a platform to be heard.

“Mark Robinson has spent his entire public life spewing hate, lying about his record, and spreading dangerous and false conspiracy theories. A debate would only serve to legitimize him and provide a platform for his vile and dangerous rhetoric, and we won’t be part of that,” Stein campaign spokeswoman Kate Frauenfelder said in a statement.

Stein’s position is contradictory and disappointing. If he thinks Robinson is such a danger to the state, he should confront him face to face. If he won’t take on a divisive bully, how effective will he be at standing up for North Carolinians as governor?

That politicians leading in the polls should avoid giving exposure to their opponents is standard political strategy. But in this case, Stein’s whole campaign has been about exposing Robinson for who he is. Why can’t Stein come out from behind his ads and do it himself?

Robinson has invited that exchange. “I’m challenging you to a debate right now, Josh Stein,” he said in a video posted on X. “Come on down. Let’s do this mano a mano and let’s get it done.”

If it doesn’t get done, it will be the first debate-less gubernatorial campaign in the state since 1976.

In 2020, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper debated Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, a figure as deeply conservative as Robinson. In seeking the governorship in 2016, Cooper debated Gov. Pat McCrory twice.

Sen. Jesse Helms had noxious views on race and gay rights, but that didn’t stop Gov. Jim Hunt or former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt from debating him in their runs for the U.S. Senate.

Stein’s ducking Robinson is about more than a flip flop on exposure. It breaks a tradition and suggests that as governor Stein would put polls ahead of principles.

As attorney general, Stein has built a reputation for integrity and commitment to the mission of his office. Going after Robinson on the airwaves and avoiding him on the stage undercuts that reputation.

What’s at issue is about more than one candidate protecting his lead and the other seeking to gain ground. Robinson is the GOP nominee because he represents the MAGA movement in all its coarseness and extremism.

Defeating Robinson isn’t simply about outpolling him on Nov. 5. It’s about pushing back against the movement that has driven Robinson’s rise. That means taking on the MAGA movement, condemning its intolerance, puncturing its conspiracy theories and defending the electoral process.

Stein is North Carolina’s top prosecutor. He should be willing to personally make the case against Robinson and MAGA in a prominent court of public opinion – a gubernatorial debate.

With more than a month before the election, there is time for Stein to reconsider his unconvincing claim that a debate will expose the tender ears of North Carolina voters to “vile and dangerous rhetoric.” The real danger is refusing to confront the speaker of that rhetoric and the movement that applauds it.