Earlier this week, former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a candidate for the Republican nomination in the election for Alabama’s open U.S. Senate later this year, challenged his opponent former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville to a series of five debates before the voters of Alabama in an open letter posted on his campaign website.
According to Sessions, the five debates give one for each major media market in Alabama, which he said would “allow us to discuss the unique issues of each geographic area, as well as national and international issues.”
Wednesday, during an interview that aired on Mobile’s FM Talk 106.5, Tuberville dismissed the challenge, likening it to “punting on first down.”
“I’m not used to punting on first down,” Tuberville said. “That’s pretty much what I’d be doing. You know, he debated once or twice in his career. Obviously, he is behind. He wants a way to catch up. The best thing I can tell him is he needs to get out there and work like I’m working. I’m not sitting at home. I’m going around meeting and shaking hands. And that’s what I’ve done for the last year and a half. You know that. You’ve seen me out there. I have not slowed down. I think going to straight to the people in small towns, communities, and the cities and telling exactly what you’re doing and why you’re doing it is the most important thing.”
“Just getting up in front of the TV camera for an hour is not going to do a whole lot of good,” he continued. “I want to spend my time out with the people who are going to vote for me and people who I am going to represent. Good luck to him doing what he wants to do. They knew way back we were not going to get into a debate because he wouldn’t debate us the first three months he got in. We couldn’t even find him. He was missing in action. He didn’t want to answer the recusal question. Now he’s down 15-20 points, and he wants to debate. We’re not going to bite on that hook.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.
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