Keller @ Large: Interview highlights of Geoff Diehl, Chris Doughty ahead of Republican primary in Governor's race
BOSTON -- With just days to go now until the September 6th primary, the Republican candidates for governor came to the WBZ studios for back-to-back interviews. With former State Rep. Geoff Diehl, a clear frontrunner in all the polls, continuing to decline any TV debates with businessman Chris Doughty, we decided to create a "virtual debate" by asking each man the same questions so voters could directly compare their responses.
The full interviews are available here, but check out some highlights:
Question: What makes you a better Republican nominee than [your opponent]?
Doughty: A couple of reasons: one is, I can win. Geoff Diehl has lost the last three elections he ran for.... He's too extreme for our state, he pursues conspiracy theories, he has beliefs that are just not consistent with the state of Massachusetts. It makes him not electable.
Diehl: [I have] a lifetime of experiencing what it's like to have private sector and government experience, [which] I think is the best model for going into the corner office.
Q: He claims you're unelectable.
Diehl: You know what, let's see what happens on September 6. So far he's got an 0-and-1 record at the convention I think I beat him 71%-29%. So that claim of course is gonna come from any challenger
Q: If former President Trump runs for president again will you support him?
Diehl: Yeah. Look, he's endorsed me in this race and I think we had four great years under his administration, so yeah I definitely would support his candidacy if he decides to run.
Doughty: I'm one of these Republicans that believes it's time for a fresh face in the Republican party. So I'm hoping we have some new people that come into our party to run.
Q: What if any steps would you take as governor to change the abortion laws here?
Diehl: There's some elements of late-term abortion where a child survives an abortion but is allowed to expire on the table, that to me is too radical. So I hope we could find common ground that that's no longer part of that law.
Doughty: Abortions are safe and legal in the state of Massachusetts and I have no intention at all of changing it, and I assure everyone I have no intention of changing it.
Could those polls showing Diehl with a big edge be proven wrong next Tuesday?
You never say never. You'll notice Doughty has spent a lot of money on TV ads attacking presumptive Democratic nominee Maura Healey in the hope that Republicans and independents who might otherwise back Diehl will respond to his argument that Diehl's too conservative to beat Healey. But those same polls show Trump support is very strong among local Republicans, and Diehl is a known quantity to many of them.
Doughty needs a wave of strategic voting decisions like the ones that lifted Joe Biden to an extraordinary comeback win in the 2020 Democratic primaries, and there's little sign that one's coming.