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More Debates

ELECTION CAMPAIGNING is heating up.

Political signs are being seen more frequently along roadways, in yards and anywhere space can be found. Advertisements are becoming more common place in newspapers on television and radio.

We embrace, however, the format which gubernatorial candidates in Ohio utilized Tuesday night.

Current Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and his Republican challenger — former Congressman John Kasich — held the first of their two scheduled debates in Columbus. Such campaigning is the most basic form of all types and removes any unnecessary clutter.

Going eyeball to eyeball against your competitor is the purest of political stumping. It should play out more frequently. We commend both for agreeing to share the stage at COSI.

They each tossed a similar barb: accusing the other of not having the best interest of Ohioans at heart.

Partisan viewers will offer differing opinions on who was more effective in their performance. We feel, however, both verbal combatants do have the best interest of the Buckeye State’s residents at heart. Why else run?

Strickland and Kasich are scheduled to square off in just one more debate, that being staged in Toledo.

We believe limiting the political rivals to only a pair of debates is shortchanging Ohio voters.

Tuesday night’s event was not seen in Cleveland. Ohio’s other major city — Cincinnati — is also being left out of the mix. Two mega-population centers need to be included in the process. Too much is at stake to needlessly exclude hundreds of thousands of voters.

We call for both gubernatorial hopefuls to rethink the two-debate game plan.

How difficult is it to schedule several more debates to reach a broader base of voters? With Columbus and Toledo already ticketed as debate venues, we feel northeast and southwest Ohio should also have that same right.

We would welcome one in Eastern Ohio, but realize that may be a pipe dream.

The Kasich-Strickland race is shaping up to be a close and passionate affair. We feel it makes sense to let the two candidates be as visible as possible in a campaign setting to as many of Ohioans as possible.

So, let the debates continue.

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