For Immediate Release

MurphyforCongress.com Daily Blog

February 27, 2004

Davis Refuses to Debate Murphy

 

Last week Kevin Murphy sent a letter to Geoff Davis requesting a debate.

This week we received his answer, via a release issued by Geoff Davis to the media.  NO!

That Mr. Davis would not want to debate Kevin Murphy is no surprise.  Why would Davis want to give the press a chance to ask him why he moved his Kentucky consulting business to Tennessee, or why he openly opposed key portions of the Bush Economic Plan, or why Davis blamed President Bush for his defeat in 2002?

Most puzzling, however, is Davis’ rational for refusing to debate--that Kevin Murphy’s campaign had engaged in “vicious personal attacks.”

What were those “vicious and personal attacks?”  When Davis tried to proclaim himself the “pro-business” candidate during a news conference last week, we did correctly point out that Davis took $10,000 from the Teamsters Union in his last campaign, after promising to vote against President Bush’s Trade policy.  (Might we also add that thousands of Kentucky jobs depend on free trade?)

Said Murphy’s Spokesperson:

“Mr. Davis’ refusal to debate Kevin Murphy suggests timidity unbecoming of a man who wants to be a Congressman, a job that would require him to debate adversaries on the House floor and defend Kentucky values in the U.S. Congress.

If Mr. Davis wants an example of personal politics, we remind him that his operatives delighted in throwing frozen waffles on the front yard of Congressman Lucas’ home during the last campaign, on a night when Mrs. Lucas was home alone.  Nobody associated with the Murphy campaign has engaged in that kind of personal or juvenile silliness.   

Kevin Murphy’s offer to debate stands.  It is our hope that Mr. Davis will ultimately muster the courage to stand on his own two feet and engage Kevin Murphy in a debate that voters have every right to hear.”