But it started with a little game of role reversal, as if the candidates planned to run a Walk a Mile in My Shoes campaign. But the real point of the Chabot ad was to try to goad Ms. Qualls into early debates, five months before the election. Ms. Qualls, in the meantime, went about her business, telling Mr. Chabot that, yes, she would debate him, but not until the fall, presumably when people are paying attention. That's what an incumbent does, you see. Make people feel good.
Challengers get red in the face and issue debate challenges.
All they wanted to do, the Chabot people said, was to smoke out Ms. Qualls on the issues. Voters of the 1st District need to see just how liberal Roxanne Qualls is, and the sooner the better, the Chabot people say. Then, the theory goes, good ol' rock-solid conservative Steve wins the election. There is no doubt that the Chabot campaign does, indeed, want to paint Ms. Qualls into a liberal corner she can't get out of. But there may be another explanation for the role reversal.