Modbert
Daydream Believer
- Sep 2, 2008
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Not Happy Sharron : CJR
For Ralston, host of Nevada TV program Face to Face, it was a coup. On June 29, Angle had appeared on his program and challenged Reid to a debate with Ralston as moderator. What I would like to see is Harry Reid come into this studio with you and I and have a true debate, Angle said. The gauntlet clearly thrown, Ralston pushed and pushed and pushed to get Reid to commit, but the senator demurred. Neither of these candidates, I think, is really thrilled about debating for a variety of reasons, says Ralston upon reflection. Not the least of which is that each of them is prone to saying things that they shouldnt say in public.
Nevertheless, Reid did eventually agreethus the releaseand Angles deputy campaign manager came on board too, telling Ralston to announce the debate yesterday. Ralston excitedly Tweeted minutes after Reids office released its press release: So you thought there would only be one #nvsen debate? Not so: Reid and Angle have now agreed to debate on F2F on Oct. 21 in Reno. Hashtag: #gameon.
Within an hour, though, it was game off. Angle spokesperson Jerry Stacy called Ralston a little after 4 p.m. to back out of the debate. The issue was timing and other crazy reasons. Ralston was gob-smacked, taking to Twitter to write, Thought I had seen it all in #nvsen, tweeps: Just got a call from Team Angle spox. Now he says they are not agreeing to debate. The hashtag this time, was #shootme.
Angles campaign issued a press release the same day saying the candidate had agreed to another debate at a high school. Ralston says: Shes going to be there by herself but they called it a free-flowing debate with Reid, which was totally disingenuous. And it was no coincidence, I tell you, that it came two hours after they backed out of mine. On Face to Face last night, Ralston briefly told viewers what had happened and added, Im not making this up, folks.