McClatchy Tribune Services
Citing scheduling conflicts, U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell, D-N.C., has declined to commit to a locally televised debate with Republican challenger Richard Hudson, the Charlotte Observer has reported.
Hudson, in a statement released by his campaign, called on the Democratic congressman “to come out of hiding.”
The League of Women Voters had offered Monday and Tuesday of this week as days on which the two 8th Congressional District candidates could debate in a studio at Charlotte’s WTVI. The local PBS station would then have televised the face-off this weekend.
But Amanda Raymond, the league’s executive producer for political debates, said she could not get the Kissell campaign to agree on a date, even after talking to several people who work for the congressman.
“I’ve never gotten a ‘No, we don’t want to do it.’ It was ‘Yes, yes, we’re trying to find a time that works,’ ” Raymond said Tuesday. “We never found a time that works.”
This week, Raymond has been at WTVI, overseeing debates between candidates for the 9th and 12th Congressional District seats and between candidates for various county and state offices. The televised debates have been a local tradition for years, though Kissell also did not participate in them in 2010.
Kissell campaign spokesman Christopher Schuler said the Democratic congressman, now running for a third term, had other commitments Monday and Tuesday. Among other things, Schuler said, he toured a Charlotte Pipe and Foundry facility in Union County, attended an event for military veterans in Monroe, and met with farmers from Robeson and Richmond counties.
“His job is to be a congressman, first and foremost,” said Schuler. He also pointed out that Kissell and Hudson have appeared on stage together, discussing their ideas, at “multiple events,” including a recent AARP forum that was televised on C-SPAN.
But, in a statement, Hudson charged that Kissell has declined a series of debate opportunities.
“Unfortunately, dodging debates is not new for Larry Kissell,” Hudson said. “He declined three other debate opportunities in the last month. Kissell should come out of hiding and explain to the voters why he supported the wasteful $831 billion stimulus plan and voted to cut Medicare by $716 billion.”
The later is a reference to President Barack Obama’s Affordable Health Care plan, which would reduce payment to insurance companies, hospitals and other Medicare providers by that amount. Kissell actually voted against the so-called “Obamacare” bill, angering some Democrats in his district. But Hudson has claimed that Kissell had a chance to vote to repeal the measure, and didn’t.
The League’s Raymond said she was disappointed that the 8th congressional district candidates will not be debating this issue and others in a debate on WTVI this year.
“It’s a big race,” she said. “And it would have been nice to hear from Mr. Kissell and his opponent.”
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