Congressional candidates agree to debate in September

It's unlikely to have the historic magnitude of the Lincoln/Douglas debates.\nBut Rep. John Hostettler (R-8th) and Democratic challenger Paul Perry will square off in early September in the format named after the famed 1858 U.S. Senate debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. \nWhile it has not been finalized, both congressional candidates accepted an invitation to debate this week from Grassroots United, a non-partisan, Bloomington-based voter education group. \nTentatively, the debate will be at 10 a.m. Sept. 9 at the Monroe County Courthouse. In the proposed format, both candidates will make introductory statements and then fire questions at each other. Each will also be allotted time for the rebuttal of the other's response. \n"This is a pivotal Congressional race, targeted nationally," said debate coordinator James Pfaff. "It should be very exciting for people to come out. We've settled on a style that will let the candidates to get their message out."\nPfaff said the race is important because it has been targeted by the Democratic National Committee, which hopes to win control of the House of Representatives this November.\n"This race is definitely in the DNC's radar," he said. "It's traditionally been a Democratic district, though not a strongly Democratic one."\nIt will be the first debate between the congressional candidates, who have also agreed to face off Oct. 15 in Evansville. Perry, a Newburgh-based physician who is running his campaign on the issue of health care, has asked Hostettler to debate him in all 13 counties in the 8th District of southwest Indiana.\n"Congressman Hostettler needs to stand up and explain why he voted against patient protections for Hoosiers and why he voted against prescription drug coverage for our seniors," Perry said in a press release. "On Sept. 9, the people of Monroe County will finally get to hear from him. I hope he gives people in every county the opportunity."\nBut Jim Banks, a spokesman for the Hostettler re-election campaign, said Perry had never formally extended the invitation to Hostettler.\n"Our opponent has told the media that he wants to have debates in every county," he said. "But he's never actually faxed our camp a challenge. The first we heard of it was when we read it in the paper."\nBanks said the debate should give voters enough information to cast their November ballots.\n"Our opponent hasn't been very active on the campaign trail recently," he said. "And we're looking forward to the debate. It'll provide a contrast between the two candidates"