Wednesday, September 15, 2010
12:04 PM
Feingold campaign says Johnson ducking debates
The Feingold campaign is pushing hard for six debates with Republican opponent Ron Johnson, with the first event Sunday in Eau Claire.
The Johnson campaign is huddling today to come up with a debate schedule to propose to Feingold. Johnson has told reporters that a debate Sunday is unlikely.
Feingold announced last week he had accepted six debates, though it wasn’t known yet who his Republican opponent would be. While the Johnson campaign hasn't formally answered the call, the Feingold campaign and state Dems are already accusing Johnson of ducking.
“We feel that he owes it to voters to get off the sidelines and make a commitment to have debates,” said Feingold spokesman John Kraus said this morning in a conference call with reporters.
“I don’t know why he’s not ready to debate,” Kraus said. “He’s been in this race for four months.”
Kraus said Johnson may be “afraid” to debate because he hasn’t offered voters any solutions to problems facing Washington.
Johnson has by a large margin outspent Feingold on TV advertising, Kraus noted. But he said the election shouldn’t be determined by TV ads.
“We’re not going to match him on television, there’s no question about that,” Kraus said. “We believe that voters deserve to have the candidates meet face to face, stand side by side and have an honest debate on the issues.”
-- By Greg Bump
Labels: 2010_fall_primary
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