Kerrey Wants More Debate, GOP Head says "No Reason" For One

By: Associated Press

Updated: Tue 5:04 AM, Oct 30, 2012

Democrat Bob Kerrey is challenging Republican Deb Fischer to another debate in the final days of the contest to decide who will represent Nebraska in the U.S. Senate.

Kerrey and Fischer already held three debates, but on Monday Kerrey suggested another one to demonstrate his willingness to address the issues.

Kerrey has trailed Fischer throughout the race, but recent polls show the former Nebraska governor may be closing the gap.

An Omaha World-Herald poll published Sunday shows Kerrey trailing Fischer by 3 percentage points with 7 percent of the voters still undecided. That's much closer than the 10-point lead Fischer had in the last World-Herald poll a month earlier.

Fischer's campaign says its internal polling shows the rancher and state senator still holds a sizeable lead.

The head of Nebraska's Republican Party didn't waste any time in responding to Democrat Bob Kerrey's call for a fourth debate with Republican Deb Fischer.

State GOP Chairman Mark Fahleson attended Kerrey's news conference in Omaha Monday, so that he could immediately offer his response.

Fahleson says there's no reason for another debate at this point in the U.S. Senate race. Fahleson challenged Kerrey to promise to a list of policies that he says reflect Nebraska values, including opposing any tax increases, budget earmarks and cap-and-trade environmental regulations.

Both Kerrey's news conference and Fahleson's reply happened in the lobby outside Kerrey's campaign headquarters.

Kerrey spokesman Chris Triebsch says Fahleson's appearance shows just how desperate Republicans are. The Kerrey campaign dismissed the idea of signing the GOP pledge.