{"id":4262,"date":"2020-10-15T10:00:44","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T10:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=4262"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:52:39","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:52:39","slug":"in-first-and-only-debate-gubernatorial-candidates-clash-on-schools-economy-and-masks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/15\/in-first-and-only-debate-gubernatorial-candidates-clash-on-schools-economy-and-masks\/","title":{"rendered":"In first (and only) debate, gubernatorial candidates clash on schools, economy and masks"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the eve of North Carolina\u2019s first day of early voting, Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican challenger Lt. Gov. Dan Forest debated issues from health care to taxes to hurricanes. But much of the debate centered on their most contentious disagreement: how to handle the coronavirus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although Cooper is leading in the polls, he attacked Forest from the outset. The majority of <\/span>polls<\/span><\/a> show Cooper leading by at least 10 points, and a WRAL survey released Wednesday had him up by 13 points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Face to face for the first time, they debated face masks and schools. Cooper defended his mask mandate against Forest\u2019s claims that they are not proven to be effective. Forest argued that children should return to classrooms, and Cooper defended his phased reopening.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During the hour-long debate, which was sponsored by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters, they also clashed on how fast Cooper was reopening the state\u2019s economy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTalking about masks is a great cover for what he really doesn\u2019t want to talk about, the over million and a half people that he has left unemployed,\u201d Forest said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not just ignoring science, you\u2019re ignoring common sense,\u201d Cooper replied. \u201cYou cannot wish the pandemic away.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Forest acknowledged the threat of COVID-19 for older people and those with underlying health conditions. He emphasized the danger the pandemic poses to people in nursing homes and the state\u2019s most vulnerable residents. \u201cThat\u2019s where we should be spending all of our time and attention,\u201d he said. \u201cWe should allow healthy people to get back [to] life.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He said children are 17 times more likely to be impacted by the flu than coronavirus, a claim <\/span>PolitiFact<\/span><\/a> has rated mostly false.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cooper countered that protecting the most vulnerable people requires cooperation from everyone. \u201cThe problem is, Dan, you treat nursing homes like an island,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have people out there discouraging masks, when you have people out there trying to prove that there\u2019s not a pandemic, then you end up having more people who are infected. It could be a nursing home staff member [or] a visitor,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Above: Plexiglas wasn’t the only thing that separated Roy Cooper from Dan Forest in the gubernatorial debate. (Screenshot from WRAL broadcast.)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the eve of North Carolina\u2019s first day of early voting, Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican challenger Lt. Gov. Dan Forest debated issues from health…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[19,71,135,151],"class_list":["post-4262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2020-election","tag-coronavirus","tag-election-2020","tag-governor","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nIn first (and only) debate, gubernatorial candidates clash on schools, economy and masks - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/10\/15\/in-first-and-only-debate-gubernatorial-candidates-clash-on-schools-economy-and-masks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In first (and only) debate, gubernatorial candidates clash on schools, economy and masks - 9th Street Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On the eve of North Carolina\u2019s first day of early voting, Gov. 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