Sestak dodges debate

Two years ago, Joe Sestak was the challenger trying to unseat an entrenched incumbent in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District. Funny how things change. Today, Sestak is the incumbent trying to hold on to his job by avoiding his challenger.

From the Craig Williams for Congress campaign:

The Craig Williams for Congress campaign today expressed disappointment in Congressman Joe Sestak for his refusal to confirm a date set by the League of Women Voters for an issues debate with Republican candidate Craig Williams. The League of Women Voters informed the Williams campaign that they were forced to cancel the tentative date for the debate after Sestak refused to even discuss a possible date with their League's leadership.

"The League of Women Voters is an all-volunteer organization who has only one interest: good government and civic discourse," said Jim Knapp, campaign manager for the Williams for Congress campaign. "But Joe Sestak refuses to even grant them the courtesy of providing potential dates for a debate with Craig Williams. Ironically, Joe Sestak ran for Congress in 2006 under the guise of open and responsive government. Two years later and Joe Sestak has already forgotten who sent him to Congress."

Joe Sestak has similarly avoided any type of planning discussions with the Williams campaign, which since June has sought a meeting to discuss the potential for six town hall style policy discussions and three formal debates on the issues. Repeated efforts to enter into exploratory discussions with the Sestak campaign have been continuously rebuffed.

"Joe Sestak refuses to address the energy crisis and he just voted for the largest federal budget and tax increase in our nation's history," said Knapp."No matter how many times he tries to dodge the debates, Sestak cannot hide from his voting record."

Sestak has repeatedly attempted to claim that he will not begin his re-election campaign until later in the fall, even as he raises millions of dollars from contributors around the country and makes the talk show circuit on behalf of other Democratic candidates.

"This type of lame excuse is what you would expect to hear from a politician who has lost touch with voters. I think voters are smart enough to see through his sham."

For more on Williams, visit his campaign Web site.