{news} Rell Backs off Debates (Green and "Guilty Party" mentioned)

[Green Party-CT]

Rell Backs Off Debate Stance 

Dropping Insistence On 4-Way Event May Open Door To 1-On-1 With DeStefano 

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       -->By CHRISTOPHER KEATING
Capitol Bureau Chief

September 21 2006

Shifting from her previous stance, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Wednesday that "everything is on the table" regarding a possible one-on-one debate with her main challenger, Democrat John DeStefano Jr.

Since negotiations began with an exchange of letters in August, Rell's campaign had repeatedly insisted on a four-way debate that would include DeStefano and two minor-party candidates who have qualified for the Nov. 7 ballot.

With the issue of debate formats heating up this week, Rell softened her position Wednesday, allowing that a one-on-one debate with DeStefano would be possible.

"Everything is on the table as far as what kind of debates, who would be included, how many," Rell said outside her office at the state Capitol. "I'm not ruling out anything."

Rell spoke only minutes after DeStefano's running mate, lieutenant-governor candidate Mary Glassman, held a news conference outside the Capitol to denounce Rell's stance.

"It's cheating the voters by not allowing a one-on-one debate," Glassman said. "Why is the governor - who is popular, who is ahead in the polls - refusing to debate one on one? She doesn't want to debate."

Glassman's news conference came one day after DeStefano said Rell was avoiding a forum in which the two main candidates could discuss the most important issues facing the state. DeStefano's campaign has said Rell is not only avoiding debates but failing to show up at events where both candidates have been asked to speak, including recent ones in Berlin and Hartford.

But Rell's campaign spokesman, Rich Harris, said Rell is holding a full-time job as governor and must routinely turn down invitations to events. Rell did not attend a conference on disabilities in Hartford over the weekend because she had "a dozen" invitations - not because she wanted to avoid DeStefano, Harris said.

"You know what?" Harris said. "We don't care where he goes. I know this is going to come as a shock to John. We don't know and we don't care where he goes. They can run their schedule, and we'll run ours."

Rell's position on debates has evolved this week.

On Monday, she told reporters in Newington that all candidates should be invited - in the same way that Democratic U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd appeared with minor-party candidates in two four-way debates in 2004. On Tuesday, Rell and her campaign reiterated that stance. 

DeStefano's campaign says talks broke down then, prompting Glassman to hold her press conference Wednesday in an attempt to jump-start the issue. The campaign also sent an e-mail Wednesday to supporters, asking them to participate in a New Haven TV station's online poll that asked whether Rell should debate DeStefano one-on-one.

But Harris said Rell has not changed her position because she never issued any ultimatums regarding the debates.

Clifford W. Thornton Jr., who is on the ballot as the Green Party candidate, said he wants to participate in a debate because he will raise issues the other candidates will not discuss - such as decriminalization of drugs.

"Rell wants me in the debates, obviously, because it will be less face time for DeStefano," Thornton said. "DeStefano is not democratic. He's not using the true sense of democracy."

Concerned Citizens Party candidate Joseph Zdonczyk, a longtime candidate who has run for governor at least four times, said he will participate in any debate, but questions Rell's motivations. His campaign is based on several platforms, including opposition to abortion, the death penalty and embryonic stem cell research.

"Rell is a clever politician. She got her training from John Rowland," Zdonczyk said. "She's not doing this for altruistic purposes. It's purely political. Absolutely."

State Republican Chairman George Gallo noted that DeStefano has appeared in mayoral debates with multiple candidates, including one from the "Guilty Party," when he was running for re-election in 2005.

"When he was running for mayor, he had no problem including third-party candidates," Gallo said. "When he's running for governor, he's taking a different tune."   Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant 
  
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