First, WMHT's sad promo for what was supposed to be the second debate between Scott Murphy and Jim Tedisco. Note that Susan Arbetter informs the viewer that WMHT and the Times Union invited both candidates in the race "to discuss the issues."
Too bad one of those candidates has decided to deprive the folks of the 20th of an actual debate. Why? because he's staging some event he's calling "Jim Tedisco in 3-D". No, really. You can't make this stuff up.
Republican and Conservative congressional candidate turned down an invitation to participate in the WMHT/Times Union debate on Thursday because he already had his own multi-media event planned, said Adam Kramer, a spokesman.
Tedisco will conduct a "Jim Tedisco in 3-D" campaign forum at 7 p.m. Thursday at his campaign headquarters in Halfmoon, Kramer said.
People will be able to participate in three different ways: in person, via telephone conference call or via the Internet, he said.
Democratic, Independence and Working Families candidate Scott Murphy and Libertarian candidate Eric Sundwall, the same evening, will participate the WMHT/Times Union debate to be televised live on WMHT, WSKG and Mountain Lakes PBS public television stations.
Kramer said the Tedisco and Murphy campaign had previously agreed to participate in four debates, that did not include the WMHT/Times Union event.
Tedisco had already planned his own event on Thursday when he was invited to the fifth debate, Kramer said.
That's right. Jim Tedisco is going to skip the only debate televised on three PBS stations covering the entire district so that he can peddle himself in person, on the phone and online, ya know, in "3-D". Maybe he'll twitter himself into a 4th dimension.
Or something.
What he won't be doing is debating the issues that concern the people of the 20th CD with anyone other than his own three dimensional ego.
He'll spend Thursday night not debating Scott Murphy or taking questions from the Times Union or making the case for his candidacy, but taking "questions" from supporters in his very own safe little echo chamber.
