The Cowardice of Chuck Hand

It is inconsequential who wins the Republican Party’s nomination for Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District in the runoff next week, because like in the 11th district, the challenger is merely cannon fodder for the incumbent. In this case the edge will certainly go to Sanford Bishop who has been serving in Congress since before I graduated high school.

So it would be easy to dismiss any story that comes out of the primary runoff to see who will be Bishop’s dance partner before he dispatches them in November. I mean besides the fact that runoffs are stupid and the tax payers are being saddled with the cost of conducting yet another runoff election, this time paying to see who will eventually lose. But when we discussed this race on a recent episode of Peach Pundit the Podcast™ Pye and I both agreed that there wasn’t much there to talk about. Buzz pointed out that one of the candidates that made the runoff, Chuck Hand, had been convicted of misdemeanor charges related to his presence at the Capitol on January 6th.

Okay, so that is somewhat newsworthy, but it does not alter the reality that if Mr. Hand wins the nomination he is facing certain defeat in November.

Over the years I have seen a lot of candidates get in over their head when they first decide to get in the arena and put their name on a ballot. Someone asks them what their opinion is of the quality basic education (QBE) formula, or what the impact of expanding Medicaid would be on the state and they freeze. If they have any acumen at all they will redirect the question so that they can make a statement they want to get across. In those instances the candidate has no idea about any of that stuff.

And we saw a version of that at a recent Atlanta Press Club Debate between Mr. Hand and his GOP runoff opponent, Wayne Johnson. Just a couple of minutes in, Jill Nowlin, of the Georgia Recorder, asked Mr. Hand his stance on the federal farm bill.

It isn’t like the question is from outer space. Agriculture has been and will remain the largest industry in Georgia. The 2nd District is populated by farmers who have an interest in how candidates think about these policies. It is a kitchen table issue that impacts every community in the district.

In Mr. Hand’s case, he just made a statement about nothing related to the farm bill and ran like he stole it. He tried to act all tough by saying he wasn’t going to debate someone who had insulted his wife. But I think the truth that got covered up in the theatrics of the moment is that Chuck Hand probably doesn’t know what a farm bill does. He probably doesn’t have any idea what any of the issues are or how to solve them. He is part of a wave of “fighters,” like AOC and MTG, who don’t have to express a command of the issues if they can just get the media’s attention for a few minutes.

And sorry but not sorry, running from the opportunity to prove me wrong, to answer questions for your constituents and voters, to cast a vision for your time in office, let’s start calling it what it is: cowardice. Anyone who simply refuses to answers your questions has done nothing to earn your vote. And it is easier to make up a weak excuse like, “he offended me” (Really? Are you serious? This is politics man, grow a spine!) than to show the world how woefully unprepared you are to tackle the problems facing our state and country.

At the risk of sounding elitist, not everyone is qualified to do the job of a member of Congress. And there was a time not so long ago that my party appreciated ability over hollow showmanship or celebrity. And it isn’t just my party, see: any member of the squad. But I mourn the loss of it within the GOP.

Unfortunately Chuck Hand got exactly what he wanted out of this because the media basically buried the fact that Wayne Johnson stayed to answer the important questions. Mr. Johnson decided in that moment to give the people what they need to make an informed decision: answers. But there isn’t a single article I can find on that. Just that a J6 Convict stormed out of a debate.

Is it the media’s fault for reducing the totality of events down to a 30 second clip and then running it non stop, or is it our fault for not being willing to dig deeper? Yes. And if we are going to do our part to repair this type of damage, we are going to have to start punishing candidates who place attention seeking over love of country. We are going to have to start voting for people who have proven that they can do the job, not just vote for a celebrity.

Statesmanship > showmanship.

Here is a link to the full video of the “debate” from GPB. It is only about 15 minutes long because only one candidate showed up to do the work of the people.