Awkward! Denham, Harder work the same room without even saying ‘Hi’
Some observers likened it to “Shark Week,” watching two great whites circling each other without making any contact.
Rep. Jeff Denham and his Democratic challenger, Josh Harder, were both at the celebratory opening of the new Girl Scouts STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – center on Oakdale Road on Thursday night. The event drew some of Modesto’s best and brightest (we’re talking about the Girl Scouts) and many of its movers and shakers – which is why the politicos also were on hand.
They were both in the same room at the same time for perhaps 45 minutes, but neither Harder nor Denham acknowledged each other.
At one point, they passed within 3 feet of each other, onlookers said. But their backs were turned and they made no attempt to say hello, shake hands, or even offer a grim nod. Each pretended the other candidate simply wasn’t there.
Did they think no one noticed?
Except for a few out-of-towners, virtually everyone in the room was watching them circle each other, wondering who would make a move, offer a gesture or even start an argument. It didn’t happen.
Instead, they circled like sharks.
It’s no wonder they’re having such a difficult time trying to figure out when – or even if – they’ll debate each other. One complains the other won’t debate. The other counters by offering debates at venues the other assumes were picked to be favorable. Neither one appears to trust they’ll get fair questions or be able to agree on who should be asking them.
So we’ll offer an invitation: Come to The Bee.
We’ll provide a neutral site, with no audience other than our editorial board and a reporter or two, and we’ll do our level best – as we’ve done before – to ask questions that matter to voters. No cheering or booing allowed.
We’ll put the entire thing on Facebook (per Rep. Denham’s suggestion and our past practice) and let viewers decide who offers the better answers.
We did the same thing (putting the live feed on www.modbee.com instead of Facebook) the first time Michael Eggman ran against Denham. It was their first and only (as far as we know) face-to-face meeting in 2014. We’d like to do the same for Denham and Harder this year.
For the record, after the 2014 debate with Eggman, we endorsed Denham. Also for the record, we endorsed Harder this June before the primary.
Meanwhile, we’re delighted to see the STEM Center + MakerSpace have its official grand opening Saturday. The project is part of GIRL (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader) Scout Heart of Central California program that we believe will help create future community leaders. The organization serves 18,000 girls from Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Merced, Tuolumne and 14 other counties. Modesto’s STEM Center is the second to open in the district and only the third in the nation.
Encouraging girls of all ages to get involved in science and technology is an entirely worthy and wonderful endeavor. Confidence and competence are essential traits in our future leaders.
Of course, so is a willingness to engage. Since they missed a great opportunity Thursday, we hope both Rep. Denham and candidate Harder will seriously consider our invitation. Both know our phone numbers and email addresses; we’d love to hear from them to set up a convenient time for both. Presumably, before Nov. 6.
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This story was originally published August 3, 2018 at 2:09 PM.