Owens talks debates & forums
Bill Owens, the Democrats' candidate for the 23rd Congressional District, was in town tonight. So I asked the apparent front-runner in this campaign about why he has only committed to one debate.
"We clearly have been trying to get these established, but we think it's important that all three candidates participate," he said.
There's the fundamental problem in a nutshell. Mr. Owens can use Mr. Hoffman as a reason to not debate. When Mr. Hoffman does say yes - like with News10Now on Monday - Mr. Owens' people appear not to respond at all.
Don't take my word for it.
"The 27th simply won't be possible if Mr. Hoffman cannot attend, but we are trying to make this work the best we can," Jon Boughtin, Mr. Owens' spokesman, wrote in a Oct. 16 e-mail to organizers of a now-defunct forum.
Donna Seymour, communications chair for the St. Lawrence County branch of AAUW, had already said Tuesday that Mr. Owens declined to attend the forum in question after his campaign learned that Mr. Hoffman was not coming.
"My very clear impression from talking with the Owens and Hoffman campaigns were they were far more interested in their out-of-district fundraisers than they were in meeting their constituents," she said. "It was real frustrating. The voters need to know these candidates have not made getting in front of a mixed group of people a priority."
Mr. Owens told me tonight that he really thought everyone was making "good faith efforts to try and establish a debate schedule."
The organizers of these events seem to suggest otherwise.
Christopher Westbrook, president of the Clifton-Fine Economic Development Corp., tried to get Mr. Owens to his forum tonight in Wanakena.
"We are hoping to have Bill Owens here as we have sent him many invites but he still has not confirmed," he said in Oct. 19 e-mail. Mr. Owens' team turned him down the next day.
John Hughes, of SUNY Oswego's student Senate, tried to arrange a forum for Sunday.
"Once I had this acceptance from Dede's camp I contacted Owens' camp, but they failed to give me a response," he wrote. "A faculty member attempted to get in contact with the Oswego County Democrats, and the party contacted Mr. Owens' campaign, which turned us down. Ironically though, Mr. Owens' camp does desire to send campaign representatives to campaign on our campus. In the case of Mr. Hoffman, I never received a response."
Ron Lombard, general manager of News10Now, is organizing a debate for Monday. He wrote Tuesday: "We’re still holding out hope that Owens will show up and we’ll leave it an open invitation, meaning he can appear right up to the last minute."
Keith Tyo, executive assistant to the president at SUNY Plattsburgh, wrote Wednesday: "The Rotary Club of Plattsburgh has decided to cancel a proposed forum at the club's meeting next week (Wednesday, Oct. 28). The primary reason has been the apparent lack of interest in participation by a couple of the campaign committees." Ms. Scozzafava had said yes.
With that background, here's my exchange with Mr. Owens tonight:
Q: I want to talk to you about the lack of conversation that's going on between the three candidates specifically debates and candidate forums. Certainly you've agreed to the one in Syracuse, but it's not front of audience. It's not in this district. I understand it's going to be broadcast in this district. But what's your feeling getting in front of an audience who may be considering whether or not to vote for you with the other candidates there and talking about your positions and defending your positions?
A: As you know, you were at the event in Gouverneur with Assemblywoman Scozzafava, which Mr. Hoffman was invited to and chose not to attend. That was certainly one opportunity to do that and it was a good opportunity. I think people got to hear our positions on things. We're going to have the debate in Syracuse. We're working on other debates. I know that the staffs are trying to get that accomplished so that all three candidates can be present and share their views.
Obviously, it's difficult from a couple of perspectives. One, the district is very big. We're all traveling literally throughout the district on a weekly basis. We have a very short time frame in which to get this done. I think people are really using good faith efforts to try and establish a debate schedule and it just unfortunately hasn't worked out.
Q: What if it doesn't happen? You mentioned the Gouverneur event, but that's only for the delegates of the Central Trades, so it's a limited audience. Isn't that a fundamental of democracy that you should be able to view your maybe future congressman, ask him a question about the issues on your mind, that are important to you? Isn't that a right that we should have as voters?
A: I don't disagree with that, obviously. I think we've been getting out and visiting with lot of people. Every time I go somewhere, I get asked questions. I answer them. That happens literally every day as part of this process. We clearly have been trying to get these established, but we think it's important that all three candidate participate. We have, and I believe Assemblywoman Scozzafava has confirmed in Syracuse - I'm not sure about Mr. Hoffman.
Q: He'll be there.
A: So we've been able to schedule one. And I think in that particular instance, it's going to be broadcast. I'm sure it will be picked up by other stations. So there's going to be that opportunity for people to listen to us. And hopefully we'll get another scheduled. As I said, people are working dilligently to get that done.
