Hill, Sodrel settle on first debate

Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-9th, and Democratic challenger Baron Hill will square off in their first debate Thursday.\nAfter weeks of banter and barbs, Democratic challenger and former congressman Hill has signed on for a debate that will cover a variety of topics — the format Sodrel lobbied for.\n"Unfortunately we had to agree to a multi-issue debate," Hill spokeswoman Abby Curran said. "Mike Sodrel said it would be a waste of time and resources to have a single-issue debate, but we believe these issues deserve more than the two to five minutes you get in this type of debate."\nThe first debate is scheduled for 8 p.m., Aug. 31 at the WTIU television studios in Bloomington. The debate is sponsored by WTIU, Hoosiers for Higher Education and the Bloomington Herald-Times.\nHill, Sodrel and libertarian candidate Eric Schansberg will be asked questions by the three-person panel of Bob Zaltsberg of the Herald-Times, Jim Shella of WISH-TV and Lesley Stedman Weidenbener of the Louisville Courier-Journal.\nThe debate will be live on WTIU and simulcast on WFIU. Audience members can also e-mail questions to wtiu@indiana.edu or fax questions to 855-0729. A phone number for call-in questions had not been determined by press time.\nThis race marks the third time Hill and Sodrel have faced off in the hotly contested 9th District. In 2002 Hill narrowly defeated Sodrel by about 500 votes. Sodrel won the seat in 2004 by about 1,500 votes.\nSodrel spokesman Cam Savage said Hill was trying to avoid some topics with a series of single-issue debates.\n"I think if you're running (for) Congress, you should be ready to answer any question at any time," he said. "When you're in Congress, you don't have the luxury of debating some issues and not others."\nHill, who served as 9th District representative from 1998 to 2004, previously proposed a series of four debates about energy, values, health care and the economy.\nSome media outlets reported that Hill was ready to back out of Thursday's debate, which he flatly denied in a letter his campaign sent out Tuesday.\n"Baron will debate (Sodrel) as many times as (Sodrel) wants," Curran said. "He'll have 10 debates on 10 issues if that what he wants to do."\nSodrel's campaign isn't buying it, however.\n"I don't think he wants to debate, despite the angry rhetoric from his press releases," Savage said.