Willl Blago and JBT debate Green Party candidate?

Press release from the Illinois GReen Party:

Rich Whitney, the Green Party’s candidate for Illinois Governor, has been invited to participate in a gubernatorial debate in Marion, Illinois, on September 26th, 2006. The debate is co-sponsored by the Southern Illinoisan, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at SIUC, and WSIU Public Broadcasting.

Governor Rod Blagojevich and challenger Judy Baar Topinka orally committed to this debate, and the Topinka campaign has confirmed that they are fine with Rich Whitney’s invitation; however, Blagojevich has previously indicated that he may not participate if Rich Whitney is included. A deadline of September 19th has been established for all
three candidates to confirm their participation in the debate.

The Southern Illinois debate committee’s invitation was in response to a recent Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll that showed Rich Whitney surpassing the 5% support requirement previously established by the committee.

“The voters deserve to be fully informed and that is what this debate should be about. We want a fully informed electorate so they can select the best candidate, with the best proposals for the people. The only way to do that is to have all the candidates in the debates,” said Rich Whitney.

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