Debate-ducking Gabbard invites charges of hypocrisy

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is learning that what goes around comes around as she fends off a debate challenge by her only Democratic primary opponent, Maui writer Shay Chan Hodges.

Chan Hodges proposed four debates — one on each major island in the 2nd Congressional District; Gabbard ignored her and didn’t respond to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporter’s request for comment.

She certainly isn’t the first front-runner to duck debates and avoid giving exposure to a lesser-known opponent.

But in this case, Gabbard invites charges of hypocrisy after she grabbed national headlines for bashing Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party for not scheduling more debates with her preferred candidate, Bernie Sanders.

She told MSNBC then, “We’ve gotta have more opportunities for people to present their vision for our country, their plans, and to be held accountable for the positions that they’re taking.”

On CNN, she wrapped debates in the flag, saying it was an issue of “democracy, of freedom of speech and defending that which so many have sacrificed and given their lives for.”

Gabbard’s refusal to abide by her own words was noted by the national news website Daily Beast, and the contest has caught the attention of nbcnews.com.

Her main response to the debate challenge was a fundraising appeal seeking to add to the $1.6 million she’s already amassed by dubiously painting herself as a victim of the Democratic establishment, which she claimed “put a target on my back” for challenging party leaders.

Chan Hodges is hardly a tool of the establishment. She’s a political unknown with negligible funding and, like Gabbard, a Bernie Sanders supporter.

If the Democratic establishment thought Gabbard was important enough to target, she’d more likely be facing a name opponent with a million-dollar bankroll.

Gabbard, 35, polls as one of Hawaii’s most popular politicians, with keen instincts and devoted followers who she doesn’t discourage from promoting her as a future candidate for president or vice president.

But she’s mistrusted by some Democrats on both sides of the Clinton-Sanders divide who see her as calculating and disingenuous in constantly drawing attention to herself by attacking her own party.

They question why the sharp tongue she aims at fellow Democrats is seldom directed at the GOP; to the contrary, she’s been visible in cozying up to top Republicans such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and former Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Chan Hodges is challenging Gabbard’s representation of the district, her commitment to Sanders’ progressive agenda, her attacks on President Barack Obama by using GOP talking points on radical Islam and her ties to conservative casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson.

If Gabbard sees herself as future national ticket material, she should be able to stand up and answer questions in public debate — just as she demanded of Clinton.

Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.