Democratic 7th District congressional candidate Andre Carson backed out of what would have been his first public debate with his GOP opponent, State Rep. Jon Elrod, tonight. At the last minute, Carson's campaign sent word to the organizers of the candidate's forum that he would not be attending. Elrod Campaign spokesman, Kyle Kasting, stated “Jon was very disappointed that Andre Carson backed out of tonight’s forum. Jon Elrod is ready to debate and the voters of the 7th district are ready to hear where Jon and Andre stand on the issues. Jon is committed to running a campaign of substance. Jon believes the people of the 7th district want to hear more than sound bytes plugged into 30 second TV ads. It is clear people are unhappy with our leaders in Washington and Jon Elrod is the candidate who will bring change to Washington.”
Those of you who are familiar with past campaigns of Carson's grandmother, the late U.S. Rep. Julia Carson, know she was reknowned for providing varying, last minute excuses for not showing up at previously-scheduled candidate events with her opponents. Elrod is challenging Carson to debate him at least once a week over the next three weeks leading up to the March 11 special election. The two are currently both scheduled for a candidates forum on February 20 at the JMCC Church on the city's northside.
The Star reports that Carson's campaign planned to send Melina Kennedy as a surrogate at tonight's forum in his place. "Campaign manager Alex Zwerdling said Carson had agreed in December to attend another forum at The Way United Methodist Church that focuses on politics and the black community," Brendan O'Shaughnessy writes. "That event is scheduled to run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. but Zwerdling said it may run longer." "The distance between the two forums is six miles." Some of you may recall that an online poll conducted on this blog a couple of months ago showed Kennedy a clear favorite among the leading Democratic candidates at that time for the 7th District race. My guess is that Carson's handlers have figured out that he's not quite ready for prime time, and that a stumble at one of the candidate forums could be all it takes to cost him the special election. Voters are already plenty skeptical about him.
28 comments:
Pitiful.
Andre the questions only get harder from here forward.
Like grandmother like grandson. He truly is "her seed".
Jon isn't the only candidate that was disappointed by the absence of Carson. The other candidate in this race, Sean Shepard, was also looking forward to debating the issues with Carson.
Sean Shepard will also be at the forum at the JMCC.
If you don't keep your commitments now, you won't keep them later. Take heed, Indy.
Hey Wilson.....What's your take on this?
"A man's got to know his limitations." (Magnum Force 1973)
Andre couldn't debate a third grader let alone a formidable opponent for a congressional seat. Didn't he finish 89th out of 90 in his class at ILEA after Granny got him the job with the state exise police? Quite the dim bulb according to his classmates.
Go ahead and bash ...bash..bash...not a one of you can articulate an issue difference with Andre ...you are just Carson haters spewing your hate....just like usual
If Melina was good enough to send to the debate, why wasn't she good enough to send to the election?
Looks like he can't keep his committments. This man is not ready. He is nothing but a big ignorant fool afraid to go head to head with his opponents. My Party leaders have failed us miserably.
I can articulate an issue difference with Andre.
I hearby publicly renounce Louis Farrakan and the hatred that he has spoken.
Your turn Andre.
10:29, I believe ELliott just did a firm "gotcha."
Game, set, match.
The real question about this debate appearnace is: did Andre's campaign ever accept theinvitation? If so, his absence is unforgivable.
Maybe he could've sent Congresswoman Kilpatrick, she of funeral fame, who admonished us to 'send Julia's seed.' And whose own "seed" is in deep kimshi over his Detroit Mayoral ethical standards.
What a sorry sad excuse for a candidate to stand for election to the United States House of Representatives. The Democratic Party, my party, the party that Jefferson founded should go stand in the corner and sit this one out because the idiots she (the party) have running her are not up to the task. This is about Grandma's seed? Rational people everywhere are scratching their heads and saying once more, only in Indiana.
Funny how a firm realization Carson is not suited for Congress gets labelled as 'hating' him. I don't hate him, I just loathe the idea of him holding political office. Up until lately, he's had very little time under the spotlight. In that short time, he's shown he doesn't have the demeanor or the background to be a public servant.
How many votes has Elrod misses in the General Assembly during this session??
This was clearly a decision made by Andre's campaign manager. I am not a Carson supporter, far from it. But my experience tells me that Carson's internal polling shows him with a relatively decent lead over his opponents at this time.
The rule in a political campaign is that you do not agree to any debate if you are the frontrunner no matter how hard your trailing opponents yell for a debate.
At this point, with only 3 weeks remaining, Carson does not need to debate. His opponents do.
Andre's refusal to debate is a disservice to the voters but it's purely a political decision he can afford to make if he has a sizable lead over his opponents in this special election.
Once this special election is over then the game changes considerably. Andre will be forced to debate before the primary because he will not be the frontrunner.
Andre better take advantage of this free pass before the special election because he sure as hell won't get one after it's over.
Elrod needs to let this special election go and save his resources $$ for the general election. If I were Elrod I'd not spend a dime on this special election. Time is Elrod's friend. That can't be said for Andre. Andre will have the fight of his life just to get thru his own primary and that costs $$, lots of it.
"Elrod needs to let this special election go and save his resources $$ for the general election. If I were Elrod I'd not spend a dime on this special election. Time is Elrod's friend. That can't be said for Andre. Andre will have the fight of his life just to get thru his own primary and that costs $$, lots of it."
Actually, if someone like David O. wins the Dem primary Jon Elrod would have a tougher fight than the Special.
Farakkhan's connection to Andre will turn the Jewish community towards Jon or stay home. David O. will bring out the Jewish community.
It's difficult to research a state representative's voting record...not actual votes on issues. That's easy. But determining how many votes were taken, and how many the particular representative cast, is difficult.
I tried this morning. As best I could tell, in the 2007 long session, Rep. Elrod had about a 98%voting record.
Which is fine for this constituent.
Interesting - Andre choose to meet with 10 people. There were 50+ people at the other event.
ANON 9:36 The question is what is his voting record now this session now that he is already running for a higher office. Andre Carson has a 100% attendance record on the council.
I believe the council meets a couple of times a month, while the legislature has been meeting almost daily since the first of the year. Attendance at council meetings for Carson is a little less of an inconvenience to his campaigning than it is for Carson's. A good question is whether Carson continues to draw a full-time salary from Cripe while he's obviously devoted every day to campaigning full time for Congress. Is that a big in-kind contribution from Cripe?
Wilson? Google is none too kind to Andre Carson.
Andre's crew has officially shut Wilson up.
Smartest thing Carson has done thus far.
IndyErnie: BOO !
Wrong again!
AGREED Ernie.. would that they coulda done it before he harped so much.
AI Since Elrod has never worked for anyone but his family, I guess we can't check to see if he is being paid while in the legislature or campaigning.....which for him is almost always since he is always running for another office.
Nice try, anon. 7:20. Jon is a partner is the law firm his father founded. Jon's income has actually declined because of the time he has had to devote to his legislative duties. Although it is a part-time job, the time he spends at the State House tending to his legislative duties is that much less time that he is working and billing hours, his bread and butter. You can bet Andre isn't taking a pay cut while he campaigns full time or spends time on council matters. He was given that job to cash in on his political connections.
I should add that Jon gave a job offer paying a lot more money at one of the big law firms in town to work with his father. He hardly had to rely on his father for a job as Wilson Allen has suggested.
12:28--brcause you asked, I just looked.
The voting record is about the same--119 votes, he's there 114 times.
What else ya got, wiseass?
Post a Comment