38 Days Until the Election- It's Debateable

The Cherokee Phoenix has finally posted the videos of the debates from Saturday night.  Of course, they still don’t have a story posted about their own debate, which means they are quite a few days behind Cherokee Truth and theTahlequah Daily Press but we appreciate it anyway.

There is no direct link to the debate on Cherokee Phoenix's website, of course, because that would be too easy.  So, scroll down to the video section and you'll see where the debates are listed.  There is likely to be a paid political advertisement before the debates start playing, so just be ready. 

Like we said, we did an analysis of the chief debate and deputy chief debate,  so here are a few thoughts and some feedback we’ve had from others since then.

First, some much deserved kudos to the Cherokee Phoenix staff for asking some relatively substantive questions.  It’s not their fault the candidates started talking about side issues like airplanes-- they asked about budget priorities, water rights and the pay raise for elected officials, among other topics. 

Second, it’s pretty apparent that all the deputy chief candidates took a swing and a miss at the first question, which was something like: what would you do if something happened to the Chief and you had to assume the office?  I think what the Phoenix was really wanting to ask was: what would you do/what would your priorities be if you were in charge?  Instead, everybody just talked about an impromptu succession plan, like meeting with the tribal council and the leaders of the programs, etc.  No winners or losers on that question, just four people kinda missing the point, in our opinion.

The point today is, if you missed the debates, but are looking to vote in Cherokee elections this year, please watch them online.  You’ll learn a lot about the candidates from their own mouths, and you can see for yourself which candidates look, act and think like a chief or deputy chief should.