Mass Dems Chair Invites Massachusetts GOP Chair to Debate Party Platforms
Walsh proposes five debates focused on how party platforms treat issues like job creation, middle-class security, Medicare, women’s healthcare and equal pay.
BOSTON - A day after former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey encouraged Massachusetts Republicans to "span out" to talk about Mitt Romney's record as Governor and the Republican Party's platform, Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair John Walsh sent a letter to Massachusetts Republican Party chair Bob Maginn inviting him to participate in five debates focused on how the two parties' platforms treat issues like job creation, middle-class security, Medicare, women’s healthcare and equal pay.
The full text of the letter is below:
Robert Maginn, Chairman
Massachusetts Republican Party
85 Merrimac St.
Suite 400
Boston, MA 02114
Dear Mr. Chairman:
Yesterday, I was encouraged to hear that former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey urged the Massachusetts Republican delegation in Tampa to “span out” and “get the record out there” about Mitt Romney’s term as Governor and the national Republican Party platform.
I fully agree with Lt. Gov. Healey that we in Massachusetts know Mitt Romney best and it is in that spirit that I am writing to invite you to participate in a series of public debates about the national Republican and Democratic platforms around the Commonwealth this fall. Massachusetts’s voters are facing a stark choice in November and they deserve to have a rigorous and issues-focused debate, not just from candidates running for office, but from the leadership of our two parties as well.
Among other issues, I think you and I should debate how our respective platforms treat issues like job creation, middle-class security, Medicare, women’s healthcare and equal pay.
To make sure we speak to issues of concern in every corner of the Commonwealth, I propose that you and I meet for public debates in Framingham, Salem, Worcester, Springfield and New Bedford. As for the format, moderators and other details, I would suggest that each debate be sponsored and planned jointly by the local Democratic and Republican Committees.
While I feel that any number of debate formats will allow us to articulate our parties’ distinctly different visions for the Commonwealth and our nation, I do feel that it is more helpful for voters to hear from the leaders of our two parties. To be clear, I am asking you to debate in your capacity as the Chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party.
Please let me know as soon as you can if you will accept this offer to debate so we can start planning.
Sincerely,
John E. Walsh, Chairman
Massachusetts Democratic Party
Proud Resident of Northborough
12:53 pm on Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Wow! A Democrat actually calling for a debate in Massachusetts. Will wonders never cease? Sounds like they may be worried that Mitt is making headway. Getting nervous boys?
Ed Bertorelli
1:31 pm on Wednesday, August 29, 2012
On the subject of Debates- the Milford Republican Town Committee will be reaching out to our Democrat counterpart and seeking to host a Fourth District Congressional Candidate Debate- The winners of the Sept. 6 2012 will determine our guests. Now that Milford, Hopkinton,and Hopedale have been added to the newly drawn district area voters deserve to hear from the candidates.
UglyHat
8:05 am on Thursday, August 30, 2012
I am all for debates between actual candidates. Platform debates between party leaders are a distraction and should wait until after the election. Or maybe distraction is what the Dem Party Chair is looking for.
Ray Fellows
3:59 pm on Thursday, August 30, 2012
Whats the point? You have a snowballs chance in hell running for office as a Republican in Massachusetts. Look at Fauxcahontas, Elizabeth Warren. She is a complete disaster as a candidate and Scott Brown has been a very effective leader in Washington. Yet they are neck and neck in the polls. If the roles were reversed and Brown was a Democrat, he would be ahead by 30 points! I cant count how many people I know here that vote automatically Democrat, they wont even consider the Republican because they are a Republican and thats the way their family has always voted.
Jim O'Connor
4:10 pm on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Will the public be able to question the candidates at the debate of the winners?
David Nolta
10:58 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
I'm all for debates! Neither Ray, in his characterization of Elizabeth Warren, nor UglyHat, in pontificating that "debates between party leaders are a distraction and should wait", have given us any reasons for their categorical dismissal of the idea. And why is it that so many Republican (or at least dyed-in-the-wool, self-proclaimed, anti-Democrat) posters use pseudonyms or incomplete names on The Patch--a much higher incidence, it seems to me, than among liberal-minded posters? I'm not against it, but I have begun to notice it... And what are you so proud of, Proud Resident of Northborough? Bring on the debates! The more the merrier. There are no masks in a debate...
definitelynotpc
10:48 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
to David I think the reason that people use pseudonyms is because of the intense hatred that is going on since the last election. The liberals , mostly, are violent and derisive in their responsives. I have seen many posts that through valid research have disproven many of the liberals' talking points and they are met with baseless anger. it is as if the respondents feel that anger and inhumanity will make someone follow their beliefs. Their use of real names is indicative of their 'in your face' politics. The country came together after the horrible events of this day. Obama has ripped it apart by creating an army of zombies who follow blindly never comprehending that his words and promises are empty and just designed to get him elected. I pray that there is less voter fraud and less strong arming by his followers this time. This hatred is even turning many Democrat away from the party. It stopped being the democrat party many years ago when it turned Progressive..
UglyHat
12:21 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
defintelynotpc - Good point, and that probably is why some people do it, but not me.
I do it primarily because information on the internet does not go away and is easily searchable. With new innovations in cloud computing and ‘Big Data’, people, companies and governments will be able to easily create profiles based on web sites, credit cards, cell phones, your Stop & Shop card and all kinds of other information.
I write things because it’s how I feel, not so that some company can package it and use it to try to sell me stuff (or worse) later. Obviously, they could figure it out with enough effort, but if they’re looking for quick hits or easy wins, I’ll fall through the cracks.
I also do it because my name is none of anyone’s business, until I decide it is. I don’t advertise my name in person, why would I do it here.
David Nolta
8:49 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
definitelynotpc--Your long, unsupported (because unsupportable) statements stereotyping Democrats and President Obama as hateful, brain-washed, brainwashing "zombies" is the very problem, the very cause, of so much divisiveness. You're right to use a mask, thinking so poorly and prejudicially of your fellow human beings.