* Remember last week when I told you that Republican Marty Ozinga’s campaign was whining about the Southland Chamber’s choice of moderators for this Thursday’s candidate debate?
It would be hard to imagine a presidential debate moderated by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. Similarly, we cannot imagine a congressional debate moderated by Kristen McQueary.
Well, Ozinga has now pulled out of that debate. Here’s his press release…
“Both of our campaigns [including Green Party candidate Jason Wallace] have notified the Southland Chamber that we will not be participating in their candidate forum Thursday morning. Although we regret having to miss an opportunity to come before voters and discuss the issues important to Illinois’ working families, it became clear that Debbie Halvorson used her family ties to slant in her favor what was pitched as a fair forum by a purportedly non-partisan organization.
“Senator Halvorson’s husband was the Chairman of this chamber in 2004, and still serves on the board. The forum was to be held at her alma matter, where the senator herself serves on the board. The chamber employee who was responsible for the planning of the forum is an avowed partisan who worked for Democratic U.S. Senator Dick Durbin from 1996-2004. Unlike all other candidate forums to which we’ve been invited, a member of the general public wishing to be present at the forum was required to register with the chamber first. The chamber initially tried to exclude Green Party candidate Jason Wallace - again, something that no other sponsoring organization has attempted to do thus far in this race. Lastly, the chamber chose an opinion columnist as the moderator, rather than an objective news reporter.
“With all these ‘coincidences’ piled on top of one another, we had become convinced that this forum was intended as nothing more than a pep rally for Senator Halvorson, masquerading as a fair and informative candidate forum. We are disappointed in Senator Halvorson for trying to pull the wool over voters’ eyes. This is what Illinois voters are tired of - the same old brand of Blagojevich-style politics coming from Rod Blagojevich’s favorite Springfield politician. This is isn’t change - it’s just more of the same. We are confident that voters will reject Senator Halvorson’s shameful tactics, but we look forward to participating in several already-scheduled candidate forums with her as the campaign progresses.” [Emphasis added.]
OK, let’s parse, shall we?
The Southland Chamber is probably the most influential and important organization in the entire region. Its board of directors and executive committee have prominent members in both major political parties, community leaders and quite a few of the more powerful local business owners. Its membership list is huge.
The Southland Chamber vehemently denies - and has told Ozinga’s campaign - that Halvorson’s husband played any role whatsoever in setting up this debate.
The “Chamber employee who was responsible for the planning of the forum” identified in the press release was not the same person who actually did all the work. So, that’s a bogus claim as well.
As I wrote before, Kristen McQueary is a solid local columnist and the campaign’s attack on her was way over the top. The SouthtownStar is arguably the region’s most important newspaper.
Governor’s State University is an often-used spot for these sorts of functions. I was a participant in a set of legislative debates there several years ago. GSU is to the Southland what SIU is to southern Illinois.
So, let’s total up the Ozinga disses: Southland Chamber; Kristen McQueary; SouthtownStar; GSU.
That’s pretty much everybody who is anybody in that region.
Heckuva job, Ozinga.
And, even if he’s absolutely right about everything (and he’s wrong about everything), if Ozinga can’t deal with a supposedly “hostile” environment on his home turf, how’s he gonna cope with the truly hostile environment of a Democratic controlled US House?
*** UPDATE 1 *** Statement from Halvorson’s campaign manager, Brian Doory…
“Whether it is failing to make his views known or even honor his commitments, Martin Ozinga continues to show contempt for local voters by selfishly making up the rules as he goes along.”
“Marty Ozinga is a member of The Southland Chamber of Commerce, and yet he still decided that it wasn’t worth his time to debate his opponents on issues of concern to his fellow chamber members.”
“This disappointing action speaks volumes about Marty Ozinga and his campaign. If he cannot even stand up and address business issues among his fellow chamber members, how can he expect to communicate with regular voters on the issues important to them?”
“Marty is afraid of being held accountable. He is afraid voters will discover he contributed $23,000 to the governor. He is scared voters will learn he supports the EJ&E deal. And most of all he is afraid of being held accountable for not being on the side of voters.”
“Even though Martin Ozinga is on the wrong side of the tracks on the EJ&E Acquisition, and so many other issues important to local voters, it’s deeply troubling that Martin Ozinga lacks the courage to look people in the eye and tell them he’s not on their side.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** No surprise, but the forum is now canceled. From the Southland Chamber…
The Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce is deeply disappointed to announce that this morning, Marty Ozinga, the Republican nominee in Illinois’ 11th Congressional District, withdrew from the Southland Chamber’s 11th Congressional District Candidate Forum. The forum, which was scheduled to take place this Thursday, September 25, 2008 at Governors State University at 8:00 a.m. and would have been moderated by Kristen McQueary, columnist for the Southtown Star newspaper, has been canceled.
The Green Party candidate Jason Wallace, Democratic candidate Debbie Halvorson and Republican candidate Marty Ozinga were invited to participate in the candidate forum. All three candidates responded and accepted the invitation without reservation or condition.
Late on evening of September 18, the Southland Chamber was notified via email of the possible withdrawal of Marty Ozinga, citing “doubts about the fairness of this forum.” The Ozinga Campaign went on to say that the moderator, “Ms. McQueary is not an objective news reporter.” As a condition of participation, the Ozinga campaign requested the removal of Ms. McQueary or the addition of a second moderator. The Ozinga Campaign also questioned the venue, Governors State University, stating “the forum will be held at Halvorson’s alma matter, where she serves as a Director on their Board.”
The Chamber stands by its strong commitment to host a fair, impartial and informative forum for its members and voters of the 11th Congressional District. Furthermore, the Chamber stands by its choice of Kristen McQueary to moderate a fair and impartial forum with questions provided by the Chamber.
The Chamber is deeply disappointed and saddened to learn of Mr. Ozinga’s decision not to participate.
*** UPDATE 3 *** With a hat tip to a commenter, this is what Ozinga’s press release claims…
The forum was to be held at her alma matter, where the senator herself serves on the board.
But check out the board list. She ain’t on it.
Oops.
*** UPDATE 4 *** From WJBC…
Debbie Halvorson says she’ll attend the event to talk with voters.
And, the SouthtownStar Managing Editor, Dannis Robaugh responds to all this weirdness…
“As the SouthtownStar’s politics and government columnist, Kristen McQueary has hosted and moderated many candidate forums over the years. We are confident the Southland Chamber forum would have been conducted with the consummate professionalism McQueary has shown every time she¹s been asked to serve as a host.
“In the Southland Chamber format, it was clear McQueary would have been reading questions prepared by Chamber members. The SouthtownStar is pleased to have been associated with the Chamber’s effort to educate voters in the 11th Congressional District by providing them an opportunity to see the three candidates respond to issues of the day.”