Tammy Duckworth Ducks AARP Debate
Here’s what Congressman Joe Walsh says about Tammy Duckworth’s refusal to appear before the AARP candidate forum:
Joe Walsh
Duckworth rejects AARP
Congressman Walsh issued the following statement in response to Tammy Duckworth’s rejecting a debate invitation from AARP.
“Ms. Duckworth declined yet another opportunity to debate me in front of the voters of the 8th Congressional District. It is time for Ms. Duckworth to stop ducking out on the real issues of this campaign,” stated Congressman Walsh.
“Ms. Duckworth continues to hide behind her scripted, prepared scare tactics of telling seniors that Medicare will end as they know it and that they will be living on the streets.
“Instead of using these scare tactics, she should stand before voters and take on the tough issues in person to defend her support of Obamacare and it’s $741 billion in cuts to Medicare.
“Programs that our seniors rely on, like Medicare, face real funding problems, and Washington for too long has kicked the can down the road.
“I understand these challenges, and to find a comprehensive solution, we need to listen to the concerns of the people affected most by these programs and make sure their voice is heard in Washington.
“But Ms. Duckworth doesn’t understand the issues at stake, seniors, or the needs of voters in the 8th Congressional District. She was hand picked to be nothing more than a rubber stamp for the tax and spend policies of Obama, Reid, and Pelosi.
“I welcome the occasion to address the members of AARP and to have an open and honest discussion of the challenges facing our district’s seniors. I strongly urge my opponent, Ms. Duckworth, to change her mind and accept the debate invitation from AARP,” concluded Congressman Walsh.
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AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established in 1958. With over 38 million members age 50 and over, AARP is one of the largest membership organizations in the United States.
Every election year, AARP hosts hundreds of debates across the country.
As a former AARP staffer, I worked on a number of these types of events for several years.
Unless they’ve changed the format in the past decade, they’re not really “debates,” but rather candidate forums where each candidate has an opportunity to respond to a series of pre-vetted questions related to senior issues, both from a volunteer AARP moderator and the audience.
The candidates do not directly challenge each other as they would during a debate.
That being said, I’m disappointed that Duckworth declined to participate, because AARP won’t hold a candidate forum unless both candidates are present.
1Sorry I missed this Cal.
2