(Chuck Muth) – What in the world is going on in Sharron Angle’s campaign over this debate business?
First, if you’re the challenger going up against an incumbent, you should be calling for as many debates as is humanly possible. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
But when you’re the challenger going up against the Senate Majority Leader with a $25 million-plus warchest and a predisposition for sticking his foot in his mouth, you should be calling for as many debates as is IN-humanly possible.
Anywhere. Anytime. Any format. Any audience. Any host. Any sponsor.
Secondly, if you go on Jon Ralston’s television show and challenge Harry Reid to debate you on Jon Ralston’s television show….and then Harry Reid agrees to the debate….and then your campaign agrees to the debate….you don’t then pull an “Emily Litella” a couple hours later and say, “Um, never mind.”
Thirdly, the initial excuse for backing out; that the debate wouldn’t occur before early voting begins, is ridiculous. As Melvin Udall said, “Sell crazy someplace else, we’re all stocked up here.”
The follow-up excuse; that you now have something else (conveniently undisclosed) on your calendar that night that is of greater importance than debating the Senate Majority Leader on statewide television, is lame-o.
Fourthly, after you back out of a debate that (a) you demanded and (b) your campaign agreed to, you don’t issue a press release claiming to have agreed to a different “debate” that (a) isn’t a debate because (b) your opponent won’t be there and (c) never said he would be.
And lastly, if you’re already under attack for being a religious-right nutcase, you don’t feed the fire by announcing in that same press release that the “debate” you’ve agreed to in which your opponent won’t appear is at the Faith Lutheran High School and will be hosted by the Christian Business Network, Business Women for Christ, and Media Fellowship International.
Good grief.
Please change your mind, Sharron (it is, after all, a woman’s prerogative), fire a staffer over this so you can blame someone else, and agree to the October 21st debate.
Then challenge Harry to a third debate to be held before early voting in Washington, DC, so your opponent can’t hide behind his “day job” excuse. That’ll put you back on offense on this debate issue instead of on defense.
There are a lot of people all across the country working very hard to defeat Harry Reid in November, Sharron. It’d be appreciated if your campaign would stop making our job even harder.
