Sanford and Colbert Busch Continue to Squabble Over Debates

The jabs between the First Congressional District candidates over debates continued on Thursday with the announcement that the AARP debate scheduled for April 17 had been cancelled. 

Thus far, the Patch/SCRN debate is the only one to which both candidates have agreed to attend. Through Thursday evening, there had been over 600 requests for tickets. Those wishing to apply for tickets should CLICK HERE.

After the cancellation of the AARP debate, Sanford took the occasion to criticize Colbert Busch.

"I think what my opponent is doing is a real disservice to the people in this district, and it’s a real contrast to the race myself and previous opponents ran in the GOP primary, in which we were all out interacting on an almost daily basis with voters from across the district, answering their questions publicly and directly,” Sanford said. “Here, we have a candidate who is running what some would call a stealth campaign – dodging debates and public appearances, and refusing to answer one of this campaign’s central questions: is she on the side of those who would create jobs in South Carolina, or the side of those who would seek to take them away? We hope that my opponent will eventually step forward and provide a direct answer to the question of whether she supports the goals of the IAMAW, the very union that sought to force Boeing to leave South Carolina – and quite frankly a host of other questions that are arising from her actions.”

Colbert Busch responded with her own criticism of Sanford via her spokesperson James Smith, "Elizabeth looks forward to debating on April 29, and it’s unfortunate that the additional debates didn’t work in her tight schedule, as we told organizers. Fortunately for voters, Mark Sanford’s record is crystal clear on AARP’s issues – and he’s on the wrong side of seniors with his agenda of privatizing Social Security."

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