PANAMA CITY — As if to prove no common ground can possibly exist in partisan politics, candidates for the U.S. District 2 House race in Florida are debating over debates.
Democrat Gwen Graham’s campaign delivered a letter Tuesday to Republican Rep. Steve Southerland’s Panama City campaign headquarters challenging Southerland, her chief opponent in the November election, to a series of debates.
Graham already has accepted invitations from two groups that want to host debates, but at this point she doesn’t have anyone to debate, campaign spokesman Eric Conrad said.
Southerland campaign manager Luke Strickland issued a statement in response, outlining the conditions under which the incumbent would agree to debate to his opponent.
“Steve certainly hopes the candidates will have a healthy debate of the issues this fall,” Strickland said. “But if that dialogue is going to happen, it needs to start with Gwen Graham denouncing the liberal outside groups that are smearing Steve’s record and misleading voters.
“Once Gwen Graham demands that (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi and her special interest allies stop flooding North and Northwest Florida with negative attacks and false information, we will be happy to start the process of scheduling debates. Until that point, the ball remains in Gwen Graham’s court.”
As of the most recent disclosure period, which covers expenditures through March 31, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the House Majority PAC have combined to spend nearly $195,000 to unseat Southerland, according to Influence Explorer, a sort of data warehouse created by the Sunlight Foundation.
No groups have spent money targeting Graham during the same period, according to Influence Explorer’s data. However, Southerland has benefited in previous campaigns from attack ads, and almost certainly will again before the November election, Conrad said.
Southerland spokesman Matt McCullough said Graham was being disingenuous by saying she wants honest and open debate on issues while refusing to condemn third-party statements that could mislead voters.
Graham could speak out against the offending ads, but that’s about it, Conrad said. Her campaign is legally prohibited from coordinating with independent third-parties such as DCCC and the House Majority PAC, and those groups are under no obligation to listen to a candidate, he said.
“No statement Gwen ever makes is going to change what an outside group says,” Conrad said, “and the same goes for Southerland.”