Wisconsin's Republican Attorney General JB Van Hollen has been avoiding debates with his Democratic opponent Scott Hassett. Today, Scott Hassett challenged Van Hollen to a series of 4 debates to which Van Hollen's campaign manager responded by implying that Van Hollen is too busy with his job to allow voters the chance to evaluate the candidates side by side:
..."But the attorney general still has a job to do running the Department of Justice. Certainly there will be a debate but not because Scott Hassett is desperate," Schmitz said.
In a "letter that Hassett wrote to Van Hollen, he wrote:
"Over the summer, there have been several groups that have asked both of us to appear at candidate forums, including the State Bar of Wisconsin. You have either refused to attend those forums with me or, in the case of the State Bar, have avoided committing to a joint appearance for nearly two months. While I realize that old-school political wisdom says that incumbents should avoid appearing with their opponents, I think Wisconsin voters deserve better. I would hope you agree.
Van Hollen has abused his office thru a number of far right initiatives, including:
- Trying to sue the federal government over healthcare reform
- Filing a lawsuite against the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board which would have suppressed the vote in the 2008 Presidential election (Van Hollen was co-chair of the McCain-Palin campaign in Wisconsin).
- Refusing to defend Wisconsin Domestic Partner Law.
- Bring paid state agents as a security detail to the 2008 Republican Convention in Minneapolis and then demoting the DOJ employee who questioned the unnecessary expense.
All these little doosies and more are detailed here.
Polling suggests that Van Hollen is vulnerable to defeat from Scott Hassett.
Please donate to Scott Hassett's campaign at: http://www.hassettforag.com/...
If you've got any ideas on prodding Van Hollen to face Scott Hassett in debates, please share!