Clint Eastwood's performance art, Paul Ryan's tall tales, and Mitt Romney's tapioca pudding acceptance speech are the big news this week. Nationally.

But local political nerds tuned into KATU TV in Vancouver (or online in their apartments in Seattle) for the second gubernatorial debate on Wednesday night (the same night as Ryan's speech), starring former Democratic US Rep. Jay Inslee and Republican Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna.

For today's PubliCola "One Question" we asked KATU news anchor Brian Wood, who moderated the debate, if there were any follow-up questions he didn't get to ask.



Here's what Wood said:

While it seemed both candidates answered my questions with as many specifics as one can expect from a politician running for office, I wanted to follow up on a couple of points.

I wanted to know from Jay Inslee specifically how “lean” he wants state government, when, in practically the same breath, he said Washington had already trimmed government payroll by 15,000 jobs.



In turn, I wanted to ask Rob McKenna to explain in detail how he would accomplish his plan of increasing state revenue while not raising taxes.



Perhaps they both have eloquent answers to those questions, but time and format being what they were, this debate did not allow for those specifics.

I am relieved to know Washington’s shellfish industry was well represented by their split vote on clams and mussels! [Wood closed the debate with a series of goofy rapid fire questions about the Huskies and the Cougars, the Portland Trailblazers, Aplets & Cotlets, and  well, clams and mussels—Ed.]

These are both good questions, but Wood isn't likely to get more than he got from both candidates on Wednesday night. Press Inslee on state budget cost savings, and he will talk broadly about instituting preventive health care measures  and creating jobs by tapping our state's "secret ability" to create and build new technology.

Press McKenna on needing new revenue streams to increase revenue without new taxes, and he will talk about how revenues are already increasing (does Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire and her majority party get any credit for that?). And frankly, I've always been bothered by McKenna's enthusiasm about revenue growth because, like every other Republican candidate, he cites that very same revenue growth in the past—about 13 percent between the 2009-11 and 2011-2013 biennium—as unwieldy government growth overseen by reckless Democrats.