Today’s Viewpoint column by Arizona Republic columnist Linda Vaquez on our ‘accidental governor’ doesn’t need any more introduction than simply READ IT:

If you are an accidental governor facing an intelligent opponent, you might let your attack dog do the barking.

That’s what Jan Brewer did.

In November, Republican Brewer will face Attorney General Terry Goddard, a Democrat. Tuesday’s primary is just a formality.

Both are well-known political figures in Arizona, but voters have an interest in hearing what they have to say now about the big issues facing the state. Goddard challenged Brewer to six debates. The hyperventilating response from Brewer campaign spokesman Douglas Cole included the goofy charge that “Terry Goddard is Obama’s Arizona apostle.”

Please.

One might accurately say our current governor is state Sen. Russell Pearce’s grateful Frankenstein. He gave life to her spiffy cable-news persona. Before Brewer signed Pearce’s mean-spirited immigration bill, Senate Bill 1070, fellow Republicans were lined up to challenge her in the primary. Pearce’s lightning bolt energized Brewer and sent her GOP opponents scattering. She owes Pearce. Big time.

Goddard owes nothing to Barack Obama. Quite the contrary. If Obama hadn’t offered former Gov. Janet Napolitano a job she liked better than the one Arizona voters gave her, Goddard would not be facing a sort-of incumbent in the race for governor. No basis for apostleship there.

Cole’s written tirade went on to say: “Governor Brewer will participate in the televised debate sponsored by the Clean Elections Commission on September 1st. The scheduling of any possible future debates will be revisited after that time. In the meantime, we anticipate that Mr. Goddard will use his campaign funds to try to redefine a 30-year record of failure. We look forward to seeing his TV commercials in the weeks to come.”

Commercials? Who looks forward to commercials?

Goddard called the response a “gratuitous attack.”

Well, yes.

One wonders if Cole’s definition of failure includes the $94 million settlement Goddard got from Western Union this year after he pursued money transfers that were being used by cartels to collect smuggling fees and ransom. The settlement brought an infusion of cash that will help law enforcement across the southwestern border. It also shut off access to one of the cartels' preferred means of money laundering. The U.S. Government Accountability Office said Goddard’s approach should be a model for other attorneys general. It hit cartels in the wallet.

SB 1070, on the other hand, may scare maids and busboys, but it’s no more threatening to the cartels than a wet noodle.

There has been no failure at the AG’s Office. Goddard conducted himself with skill and integrity. To say otherwise is inaccurate.

So, let’s get back to the debates. Goddard proposed a debate in Tucson on the budget, one in Kingman on public safety (after the prison break, Brewer might want to send Cole to fill in for her there), one in Sierra Vista on immigration, one in Yuma on jobs, one in Phoenix on education and one in Flagstaff on tourism, energy and the environment.

When I asked Cole about the lack of enthusiasm from Brewer’s camp, he said, “A debate means you have ideas laid out on the table” and Goddard hasn’t offered any. “All we hear are crickets,” he said. Cole also pointed out that Napolitano only had two debates with Len Munsil in 2006. One or two is the usual number, Cole said.

Conventional political wisdom says Brewer is ahead in the polls, so she should not do anything risky. Debating a guy as smart as Goddard would be risky for her. What’s more, the advantage stays in her court if she can keep the discussion focused solely on SB 1070.

“I intend to talk about other things,” Goddard told me. He said one debate isn’t enough to go beyond sound bites and discuss real solutions. He’s right.

He took Cole’s response to his request for a series of debates as “a categorical ‘no’ and a counterattack.”

Does he think Brewer is afraid to debate? Goddard said he won’t presume to make that judgment.

Brewer’s actions do suggest a strategy, though.

“She does seem to be hiding,” he said.

Come out, come out, wherever you are, Jan Brewer. It’s time to speak for yourself.

Reach Valdez at linda.valdez@arizonarepublic.com.

Read the original here.