5th CD Update: Hurt Ducks Debates, McKelvey Endorses Hurt

by: lowkell

Thu Aug 05, 2010 at 19:59:44 PM EDT

First, Senator Hurt pledged away his independence to Washington corporate interest groups in order to become the lobbyists' candidate. Now, Jim McKelvey reveals a dozen more secret promises that this career politician made in backrooms, including a promise to abolish the Department of Education and vote against bills that fund our military and veterans. Who knows what else he'll be pledging tonight in the secret Tea Party meeting? We won't know -- because instead of talking straight to voters in a televised debate, Robert Hurt favors back-room deals, as all career politicians do.

July 15: Hurt says he'll agree to a 10% polling standard for the televised debates.

July 18: Perriello proposes a compromise of two head-to-head televised debates, two 3-way debates. Hurt says no.

July 30: Perriello agrees to the 10% threshold (inclusive of margin of error) in the debate proposal; apparently the Hurt campaign doesn't like that idea, but "Sean Harrison, Hurt's campaign manager, did not return a call for comment Wednesday on the station executives' remarks and to explain Hurt's position on the debates."

In the end, the bottom line is that Tom Perriello agreed to debate Robert Hurt, although perhaps not with a great deal of enthusiasm. Robert Hurt did not agree. Instead, Hurt has continued to duck, bob and weave; moving the goalposts so that he can avoid debating at all costs. Apparently, Hurt is terrified of debating Perriello on TV, and doesn't think he needs to regardless, so he's doing anything he can to avoid it.

The big losers in all of this?  The voters of the 5th CD; Robert Hurt's reputation, perhaps; and also, unfortunately, Tom Perriello's chances of being reelected, since he would clearly benefit from debating - with or without the Tea Party candidate.