Nelson was asked a question about the lack of debates thus far in the campaign to which he told ABC affiliate Local 10 News’ Glenna Milberg that he “was getting ready to go over and do Michael Putney’s show on Sunday,” and that he was “doing that right after Versailles.”
The problem with Nelson’s statement is that it was only Connie Mack who actually agreed to participate in Putney’s debate on his weekly TV show “This Week in South Florida” which airs on Sunday mornings- Mack had previously committed to this debate during a prior interview back on August 15th. To date, Mack has not once refused to debate Nelson, and it was Nelson who actually declined all debate requests except for the one that was held at Nova Southeastern University back on October 17th.
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Nelson previously stated that he would only be participating in one debate against Mack, so it’s pretty cut and dried that that he wasn’t telling the truth about any future debates with Mack. Here’s the transcript along with the video of Nelson claiming that he was going to debate Mack on Putney’s show-
Nelson also stated that Local 10 had told his campaign he had “no need to come, your opponent was a no show,” implying that a debate was already in place- no doubt news to both Putney and the Connie Mack for Senate campaign. Mack’s campaign took immediate advantage of Nelson’s demonstrably false claims about future debates-“Well, I’m engaging pretty hard…but… “Well, for example, you come from the great Channel 10, and I was getting ready to go over and to do Michael Putney’s’ show on Sunday and I was doing that right after Versailles. “And they said no need to come, your opponent was a no show. “So I think what you’re seeing is they can run but they can’t hide.”- Senator Bill Nelson (Video)
Bill Nelson’s falling polling data has now made him lie about a debate that he never accepted in the first place. It’s outrageous that Bill Nelson would so obviously lie directly to the press and public. If Bill Nelson wants a debate we will be happy to have the debate on the Michael Putney show this Sunday. We would hope all of Florida would cover it and that Bill Nelson wouldn’t cancel since his only debate was embarrassingly poor. – Connie Mack for Senate Spokesman David James
One further point to make is that Putney usually tapes his show on the same Sunday that it airs, so if there was a debate agreed to between Mack and Nelson on Local 10, there probably was an agreement made in advance to tape the show on the same day he was at Versailles and air it on the following Sunday morning. Here’s the complete list of the debates that Senator Bill Nelson has ducked out of thus far-
- September 9, 2012 – Mack accepted invitation for Fox News Sunday (invitation accepted April 5). Nelson refused to accept.
- October 3, 6 and 8 have been offered to CBS Affiliate/ Gannett debate in Tampa, FL – and debate has been accepted by Mack.
- October 17 – Leadership Florida – NOVA – Davie, FL .
- October 23 – University of Florida – Senator Bob Graham School of Journalism – Mack campaign accepted and requested additional carriers be allowed to carry the feed.
- October 28 – Michael Putney at Local 10 Studios in Miami – Mr. Putney’s invitation was for October 21 or 28, and Mack accepted the October 28 date after agreeing to the debate on August 15 in a satellite interview.
- October 30 – CNN / Bay News 9 / NewsCenter 13 -Location, St. Pete, Florida Bay News 9 Studios. Debate moderated by Candy Crowley of CNN and Al Ruechel of Bay News 9. – Mack accepted in late August.
So will there be another debate? The word out there is probably not. Connie Mack has agreed to debate Nelson this coming Sunday, if a debate is to be set up, but Nelson campaign appears to be the obstacle, again. Stay tuned, but we’re not holding our breath for Nelson to agree to another debate.
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