Sept. 12, 2026 Editor, The News-Gazette: What’s scaring 6th District Congressman Ben Cline?
Why won’t he commit to a true public debate with Beth Macy — in the evening, before a moderator, in a place that’s open to the public?
He says he’ll appear in candidate “forums” where he’ll answer questions but not take on rebuttals. That’s not a debate.
Is he afraid of his opponent’s exceptional courage, honesty and human decency?
I worked at five newspapers over a long career — from Richmond to Charlotte to Philadelphia and finally The Roanoke Times. I worked with hundreds of reporters, many of them Pulitzer Prize winners. Not a one was as hardworking as Beth Macy.
When Beth became an author of bestselling books, she took her journalism to an even higher level, digging deeply into global trade, Black history, the science of addiction, and the companies that purposefully marketed prescription drugs they knew could entrap people.
Big Pharma tried to silence Beth. She answered with yet more evidence of their deceptions.
Beth’s determination to help people is just what we need in Washington.
Is that what scares Ben Cline? I don’t blame him.
MARY BISHOP Former Shenandoah Bureau chief in Lexington, Roanoke Times Roanoke
