(Barbara Teixeira) – Hi Chuck! On behalf of my husband Arnold and I, thanks so much for hosting the debate between Cindy Lake and Dave McKeon on Friday. It certainly provided us with information we were looking for.
We (Arnold and I) chose to walk away from the CCRP after attending the horrendous spectacles of some county meetings, the CCRP and the State Republican Conventions last year. Frankly neither of us could see how such a dysfunctional organization could possibly be an asset in winning elections. I did send emails to both the County and State level explaining why we decided to sever ties with each level. This was definitely not for us, so we moved on.
We were hoping we would hear something in the debate that would show us that the organization had moved forward to foster some kind of unity and respect for ALL conservative opinions and maybe we could consider becoming involved again. With that said, I’d like to tell you something that occurred during the debate that left a lasting impression on me.
Arnold, I and two of our friends were seated on the left side of the room, just two tables from the platform where Chairman Cindy Lake was seated/standing for the debate. I’m guessing the table in front of us, directly next to Ms Lake held her ‘debate coaching staff’ or something like that, based on what we witnessed. Or maybe she was putting on a show because she thought the room was hers?
Now, I realize that this was an informal debate, but I would expect that the debaters would observe some basic courtesy. Well, maybe that’s just my expectation. Also, I can report only what I observed on ‘our side’ of the room.
Every time that Mr. McKeon had the floor, Ms. Lake turned to her ‘coaching table’ and proceeded to: make faces, roll her eyes, laugh, mouth comments (I was able to lip read , ‘he’s lying’, at one point). She behaved in a rather juvenile manner, heckling her opponent as he was speaking! This is the kind of person that is the Chairman of the CCRP?
Now, pardon me if this makes me a ‘tight-ass’, but even as far back (way far back) as my first exposure to debating in High School, that would not have been acceptable debate behavior! We would have been tossed off the debating team immediately for acting in that manner! (I would say I was speechless, but I have never experienced that condition in my life. I’m told I was crying on my way out of the birth canal and haven’t been speechless since!)
While she was putting on her ‘show’ for her ‘table’ I was absolutely glaring at her, because I was truly embarrassed for her and the CCRP! I was hoping to catch her eye to let her know we were watching and certainly not approving of her childish behavior. And… as a result, I was totally turned off to anything she had to say! Why should I/we listen to her, when she lacked the common courtesy to allow her opponent to speak without her clownish distractions!
Just want to add here that I know absolutely nothing about Mr. McKeon, so I was not there as a fan of his. He did stop by our table to chat with us before the debate; gave us a flyer and answered some questions. I’ll be doing my own research on him.
I found Ms Lake’s performance ‘whiney’ at best. Her ‘poor me’ complaints about what she ‘inherited’ when she was elected to ‘save’ (Hope & Change?) the CCRP were like an echo of the “Whiner-in-Chief” who lives in our White House! Yes, Ms. Lake sounded like a….. DEMOCRAT – (It’s Bush’s fault!)
I was aching to respond to another of her ‘whines’ that went something like this: ‘Team Nevada stole all my volunteers’. I wanted to respond to her: “we were neither YOURS nor STOLEN. We simply moved on to a better place and your performance here tonight proves to me that we made the right decision.”
Perhaps I could have been more open-minded to Ms. Lake had she not exhibited such childish behavior towards her opponent when she thought the room was hers.
