Runyan: Let's See 'Real Issues on Table' During Debate

During a visit to Moorestown Wednesday morning, Congressman Jon Runyan (R-3) said he wants to see “the real issues on the table” during tonight’s presidential debate: jobs and the economy.

“Let’s talk about how we’re going to turn it around. Let’s talk realistic about it,” he said. “That’s the number one thing—how we’re going to move this forward.”

Runyan believes President Obama “needs to be held accountable for his rhetoric … (He’s) been talking about it now for quite a few years—about how we’re going to (move the economy forward)—but we’re still sitting here waiting.”

Runyan commented on the debate following a tour of Lincoln Technical Institute Wednesday morning, where he got a firsthand glimpse at how his younger constituents are preparing to enter the workforce.

“Four-year degrees aren’t for everybody, and this is another opportunity for people to learn a skill and get into the workforce,” he said. “That comes back to the jobs issue: How do we get people into the market? … There’s a unique scenario here to be able to do that.”

He said as a representative, it’s important for him to visit places like Lincoln, to “touch it with your own hands, see it with your own eyes,” to know there are “people doing good things and creating opportunities wouldn’t necessarily be there if they weren’t around.”

Runyan is in the midst of his own reelection campaign, attempting to fend off Democratic challenger Shelley Adler. (An internal poll recently gave Runyan a 16-point advantage, though Adler’s campaign dismissed it as a “work of fiction.”)

He said the main difference between campaigning this time around versus his campaign two years ago is that “it’s two jobs now.

“It’s more time-consuming, and it’s being able to flip the switch between an official capacity to a campaign capacity,” he said. “It’s the nature of the beast.”

Asked to comment on Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s chances and speculation over a series of polls that show the former Massachusetts governor trailing the president, Runyan replied, “There’s only one poll that matters. It’s on Nov. 6.”

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