The correct answer to this open question is the following.
Unfortunately, the question is incomplete because it does not provide what kind of debate it is referring to, or who were their protagonists.
However, we can comment on the following.
As we do not know what debate the question is referring to, lets put an example when a candidate did not provide hard data or back it up
with strong reasons and evidence.
In the last presidential election, the Republican candidate accused immigrants to be dangerous people that killed American citizens in the border zone. He told that they were a threat to America. It was a simple accusation just to enrage their followers. He did not prove it with serious data. Indeed, the Media published that there had been many more crimes committed by American citizens that immigrants. But what the candidate wanted to create was a sentiment of hate to support its platform against immigration.