Cowardly Miami Republicans (Diaz-Balarts and Ros-Lehtinen) refuse to debate Democratic challengers

[seafan]

WHAT UTTER COWARDS.


Republicans bow out of congressional debates

BY LESLEY CLARK
May 21, 2008

Miami's three Cuban-American Republicans in Congress have scrapped plans to participate in a series of debates with their Democratic challengers.

The South Florida AFL-CIO, which in recent years has hosted debates for mayoral and gubernatorial races, planned three debates next week for the nationally watched contests. But the Republicans said this week that they're not going, throwing the bipartisan nature of the event into doubt.
The union -- which endorsed the three incumbents in 2006 -- says the events will go on next week as scheduled. All three Democrats, who represent the first significant challenge to the incumbents, said they plan to attend and suggested the Republicans were reluctant to spar face to face.

''We just want to give our working families a chance to talk to the candidates,'' said union president Fred Frost, who met late Wednesday with representatives from two of the Republican campaigns in a bid to revive the events. ``I think they'd be squandering what I'd consider a great opportunity.''

.....

...Miami Republican (Ileana Ros-Lehtinen), however, said this week that she won't attend. A statement read by a campaign spokesman didn't explain why, but instead sought to underscore what Ros-Lehtinen said was her support for the ''working people of South Florida,'' including voting to raise the minimum wage.
''Rank-and-file union members know that I have stood with them,'' she said.

Reps. Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart, who had agreed to participate, also pulled out this week. They said last-minute changes to the schedule and the venues made it impossible to appear. ..... A clearly frustrated Frost said he ''did everything I know how'' to accommodate the scheduling. He said late Wednesday that he had met with campaign representatives for both Diaz-Balarts and held out hope that a compromise could be reached.

.....

The Republicans' decision to skip the event rankled the Democrats, with Joe Garcia, who is challenging Mario Diaz-Balart, calling it an ``act of political cowardice.''
Former Hialeah mayor Raul Martinez, who is challenging Lincoln Diaz-Balart, concurred.
''This is very disappointing,'' Martinez said. ``The voters deserve public debates on the issues. Lincoln votes blindly with Bush and then won't explain why. Lincoln has failed the voters again. He talks tough and then hides.''

.....

And we won't be getting ANY help from our so-called local US Representative, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D?-FL), because these three Republicans, known as "The Terrible Trio", are her dear friends. She just can't bring herself to do anything to help elect qualified Democrats, because that would not be *helpful* to her friends, you see.



US Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D?-FL)



Cowards, the whole damn lot of them.

[CherokeeDem]

1. Wasserman Schultz is Not Helping the Democratic Candidates?

I truly do not understand her. When I lived in Miami, I met her at several South Florida Democratic events and at the conventions and I really thought she was one of the good ones. Her unrelenting support of Hillary's stand on the Florida primary vote is really grating on my nerves. For once, we have a shot at getting that despicable trio of losers out of Florida's delegation and she won't help? Disappointed doesn't even cover how I feel.