{news} Fw: Advocate Article:Green Tries to Get A Debate With SOTS- Desperately Seeking Issues

[smderosa at cox.net]

http://www.ctnow.com/custom/nmm/hartfordadvocate/hce-hta-1005-ht41scoop41.artoct05,0,4692184.story  

      Seeking Susan 

      Two Candidates Are Hot For A Debate With The Secretary Of State. 

      By Meir Rinde

      October 5 2006

      The two men running for Secretary of State are spoiling for a debate with incumbent Susan Bysiewicz , and they claim Bysiewicz is going out of her way to avoid a head-on match-up with them.

      Green Party candidate Mike DeRosa and Republican Richard Abbate said since June they have repeatedly tried to contact Bysiewicz to arrange a debate before the Nov. 7 election, now just a month away.

      Last week they finally got back letters apparently sent by Bysiewicz's campaign, on letterhead from the Kelly & Spellacy law firm. They said the letter essentially told them they should be satisfied with two upcoming events on her schedule: a mock debate at an elementary school, and a forum at a senior citizen's center.

      The letter, from attorney Robert Martino , "misses the entire point," Abbate said. "At a forum one can say almost anything, because there's almost no opportunity for an opponent to rebut what the person said. I want to get on a stage with Ms. Bysiewicz and discuss with an audience the issues of this campaign, and she doesn't want to do this."

      "She's going to run the clock out," DeRosa said. "It's imperative that people know about this. If she does want to debate us, it's imperative she contact us in good time."

      The two men have several complaints about Bysiewicz's performance as Secretary of State. DeRosa said the she has adopted flawed electronic voting machines manufactured by the controversial Diebold company, failed to push for auditable paper verification of votes, and gone along with a campaign reform measure that penalizes third parties.

      Abbate said because of mistakes Bysiewicz made, the state will be out of compliance with a federal law requiring a full transition to electronic voting this fall.

      Reached at his office, Martino said he is Bysiewicz's campaign chairperson and a senior political adviser. "We'd love the opportunity to debate" at an event sponsored by the League of Women Voters or another nonpartisan organization, he said.

      "The challenge, quite honestly, is that the attention is on the congressional races, the Senate race and the governor's race," Martino said. "It's not our lack of wanting to get attention, but that the media and other organizations haven't stepped forward."

      DeRosa and Abbate said they both had spoken with organizations that would be interested in sponsoring a debate. A League of Women Voters representative said the group would have loved to host a debate, but their resources were stretched thin by the Congressional and other races this year. ?

      Meir Rinde got the scoop. E-mail editor at hartfordadvocate.com 
      Copyright © 2006, Hartford Advocate 
     
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