Statement from Robert Hurt, Republican Congressional candidate in Virginia's Fifth Congressional District:
"Over the next few months I look forward to engaging in a spirited debate over the better direction of this country. I look forward to debating Tom Perriello any where - any time. The people of the 5th District have a right to know where we stand on the issues, examine our voting records and see how we approach the serious issues facing our country and its future.
On the issue of debates, Tom Perriello got it wrong. On Sunday, the Daily Progress incorrectly reported that our campaign agreed to debate Jeff Clark -- and now Tom Perriello has jumped on the opportunity to dodge a head-on debate with me. Unfortunately for Tom Perriello, our campaign has never agreed to participate in any debate including Jeff Clark - and comments attributed to me are wrong.
We cannot allow the important debate in this election to be sidetracked by a candidate who is not serious about his campaign or his ability to win. Jeff Clark himself has even questioned the viability of his candidacy as recently as today in the Roanoke Times (see here).
This election is about nothing less than the future of this country and the future for our children and grandchildren. It presents a choice between two different views of government and two different visions of where this country must head. Despite Tom Perriello's greatest hope, this election is only between two viable candidates: Tom Perriello and Robert Hurt. Only one of us will be elected to Congress in November, and we are the ones that the voters of Virginia's 5th District need to hear from."
Below is a copy of the transcript, which shows Sen. Hurt's answer to the question of whether he'd be willing to talk to the Perriello campaign about their interest in future debates:
Daily Progress: Would you like to ahhh say that you would....well are you going to be willing to debate Jeff Clark and Tom Perriello?
Robert Hurt: We need to work out all of the details, but debates are a very very important part of any election and obviously we want to make ourselves available to all of the citizens who will be judging us and we're committed to doing that but obviously we have the details to work out.
Daily Progress: Uh huh.
Robert Hurt: We haven't - I don't think - talked with the Perriello campaign about what they're interested in yet but I look forward to talking with them...
Daily Progress: But would you be willing to?
Robert Hurt: Absolutely.
Where in this transcript does the Daily Progress see that Robert Hurt agreed to debate Jeff Clark?
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