Zerban petitions Ryan for debate
Photo
Rob Zerban, 1st Congressional District candidate, and supporters present Susan Jacobson, finance director for Paul Ryan’s campaign, with more than 50,000 signatures on a petition calling for a debate between the candidates.
JANESVILLE — Rob Zerban came to Paul Ryan's hometown Wednesday to repeat his call for a debate, but a Ryan spokesman said Ryan is busy running for vice president, and it's too early to commit to a congressional debate.
Zerban is the Democrat who is challenging Ryan in the 1st Congressional District race. He delivered to Ryan's Janesville campaign office what he said were 53,328 signatures calling for a debate.
Among the signers, 10,509 are from Wisconsin, and the campaign does not know how many of those are from the 1st District, a Zerban spokesman said.
Ryan is running simultaneously for Congress and for vice president and is scheduled to debate Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday, Oct. 11.
"The voters in this district deserve to hear his positions. The voters in this district deserve a debate," Zerban said in a statement he read in Lower Courthouse Park before delivering the petitions to Ryan's campaign office.
Zerban isn't alone. Libertarian Keith Dreschler is calling for a debate Oct. 29 at Gateway Technical College in Kenosha.
Zerban said Wednesday he would welcome a debate with Dreschler as well as Ryan.
"Don't take us for granted, even if you do have a substantial lead in the polls in this district, Mr. Ryan," Dreschler said.
A Ryan spokesman sent an email response, saying that it's early for Ryan to respond, as the suggested dates for a debate are Oct. 25 and 29.
Spokesman Kevin Seifert went on to note that Joe Biden did not debate his Senate opponent when he was running for vice president in 2008, and neither did Joe Lieberman in 2000.
"It seems Congressman Ryan's opponent would rather stage stunts calling for a debate than actually explain positions on critical issues and articulate solutions to the problems we face as a nation, which is what Congressman Ryan has spent the last 14 years doing," Seifert wrote.
Asked to respond, Zerban said: "Congressman Ryan has debated all of his previous challengers, and I think that the people in the 1st District deserve the same courtesy this time, especially since he never campaigned on making Medicare a voucher program, so I think he should come back and answer the questions directly in the form of a debate."
Seifert responded in an email that Ryan has explained his proposal in local "town hall" meetings and that Ryan's "premium-support" plan is not a voucher system.
"Paul Ryan … has taken the time to explain to voters that his Medicare reforms would make no changes for individuals in or near retirement and would empower future seniors to choose from a list of guaranteed options, including traditional Medicare," Seifert wrote. "Congressman Ryan has proposed protecting and strengthening Medicare with affordable choices and additional support for those in need and believes we need to guarantee the promise of Medicare for current and future generations."
Seifert said he'd like to hear Zerban's plan for saving Medicare from going insolvent.
Zerban said the Racine Journal Times, Kenosha News and Capital Times have called for a debate, among others.
Zerban decried Ryan's proposed budget, which he said would lead to decreased funding for the Veterans Administration.
Asked for his plan to address government debt and spending, Zerban responded:
"I think it's a little bit disingenuous for Congressman Ryan to try to position himself as some kind of fiscally responsible legislator when he is actually the person who voted for two unfunded wars, voted for the largest expansion of Medicare Part D, which was a big gift to Big Pharma, which also was unpaid for, and then two unfunded Bush tax cuts. So the reason we're in this mess is because of what Paul Ryan supported in the past."
Oct 9, 2012 at 5:12 p.m.
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ok Hardin724....here you go: Paul is a National thinker and does not pad legislation with personal interests so don't look to hard for those examples. You could rather refer to his action and legislation on the Line Item Veto Act, writing and suggesting a budget for the entire country after the presidents own budget was completely rejected by both Democrats and Republicans, the sanctity of human rights act and other anti-abortion legislation, the Broadcaster Freedom Act legislation to support the freedom of the press, National Right to Carry legislation helping to protect the right to bear arms, Several pieces of budget balancing legislation, Federal Budget and Accounting transperency legislation, The Taxpayers Right to Know Act, the Fair Military Leave Act, the USA/Isreal Enhanced Security Cooperation Act, and about 70 more pcs of legislation that Paul either sponsored or co-sponsored. Did you really ask this stupid question? Do you live with your head in the sand? Paul is one of the most active members of Congress and is held in high regard for his activeness, knowledge, and involvement from both sides of the isle. Even the Democrats who don't agree with him at least respect his activeness. Who are you?? Ripp Van Winkle....asleep for the last 20 years?
Oct 5, 2012 at 4:37 p.m.
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Poor, I am asking "What has he done for his district?" If you think pork, then tell us.I'm not looking for a partisan answer.
Oct 5, 2012 at 2:42 p.m.
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hardin724-Do you really mean how much pork he's brought in? If that is the real question-not much.
Oct 5, 2012 at 1:53 p.m.
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Again, I challenge anyone in this forum to tell me what Ryan has done for our district.
Oct 5, 2012 at 11:48 a.m.
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wislady-I think they got the signatures from the recall petitions. Zerban should debate an empty chair, that would be the ONLY way he might have a slim chance of winning. If you don't know what Ryans views are by now you don't wanta know.
Oct 5, 2012 at 11:24 a.m.
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Joe Biden did not debate his Senate opponent when he was running for vice president in 2008, and neither did Joe Lieberman in 2000.
But that was acceptable for them, when they were running an election for VP, right??
Oct 5, 2012 at 11:01 a.m.
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brotherkoch: Funny! Stubby: If you run, you debate. You sign up, you deliver...unless you can't stand the heat. He can pull this off with a single night visit home.
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:49 a.m.
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Why would you even bother to get signatures from outside your district for something like this? Would someone in Arizona or Hawaii actually care about this race? I have heard of grasping at straws, but this is absurd.
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:24 a.m.
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Ryan can hone his debate skills by practicing against Joe Knilans.
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:03 a.m.
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I can see why Ryan would not want to debate. He has nothing at all to gain by doing so. I can see that the national campaign would never allow this as well - one gaffe by Ryan could sink the entire ship. Ryan will, as usual, win his district easily. Polls look like he won't win the state for Romney, though.
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:49 a.m.
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Lets see 50k plus signatures -- 40k not from wisconsin, not sure how many are 1st district -- lets be generous and say 25% of that -- so really 2500 people want this???? More Dem waste of time and money.
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:31 a.m.
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If your running for a spot, you compete for it, whether you're running for VP or not. If Ryan is important, he can schedule a night or two for a debate. If not, it looks evasive....Chicken.
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:16 a.m.
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I don't care who you are voting for, to think that a challenger to a seat doesn't DESERVE a debate is simply...ignorant. I don't care if the seat is for 7th grade student council or the United States Congress. I don't care if it's Pee Wee Herman vs Paul Ryan. I'm sure if Fiengold had avoided the Ron Johnson debates ya'll would have agreed, yes??
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:07 a.m.
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RE: Commnet by DOC430 on Mr. Zerban - "this idiot Zerban" - Doc --> The information you provided is a joke. Your name calling is used because you really have nothing valid to say. It is an intellectually dishonest political comment because you are unable to present real facts or logic. It is easy to see that you just don't understand why the petitions were presented. It would be nice to hear Ryan debate - it would be an opportunity to see if he is able to present the 100% truth.
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/pa...
http://www.newnownext.com/lying-liar-pau...
http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan...
Oct 5, 2012 at 6:32 a.m.
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What will Ryan do IF he should lose on both jobs
Oct 5, 2012 at 1:01 a.m.
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Turned in signatures, only 20% are from the state, and the campain responsible for the signatures don't know how many of those are from the disrict....and the left fringe wants to talk about Ryan's fuzzy math?
Oct 4, 2012 at 10:43 p.m.
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Do you really think this idiot Zerban would be making all of this noise if Ryan weren't busy running his VP campaign right now?? He's only doing this out of desperation trying to get his name in the news and stay relevant, we all know he is going to lose in November and probably won't even get the nomination to run in the special election next year for this seat once Ryan leaves to take of his Vice Presidential duties. Just curious here Liberals, but how many Senate debates was Joe Bidden involved in during his two campaigns in 2008 while running for Senate and Vice President, I know you have all the answers here, that is until I change the questions!
Oct 4, 2012 at 10:20 p.m.
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Go home Zerban, Ryan would chew you up and spit you out in a debate. Ryan took Obama to school at the health care summit, and as much as I dislike Obama you aren't worthy of kissing his shoes in the political arena
Oct 4, 2012 at 9:37 p.m.
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I think that if Mr Ryan is allowed to run for both the VP and his own seat at the same time, he should at least set aside one evening for a debate with his opponent so his constituents can see first hand the fuzzy math he employs in his empty budget proposals.
Oct 4, 2012 at 8:37 p.m.
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Zerban is the latest person that the unions are telling all their members to vote for that will rubber stamp legislation to bring GM back. He won't win, we are too smart in this area to vote for him when the rest of the US wishes they had a representative like Paul Ryan representing them.
Oct 4, 2012 at 8:32 p.m.
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Who is Zerban?
Oct 4, 2012 at 8:06 p.m.
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Probably half of the "signatures" are from tombstones, the rest are the fictitious twitter followers of BO.
Oct 4, 2012 at 7:49 p.m.
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Maybe Mr Zerban should wai until Con Ryan dismisses VP Biden next week....maybe he'll reconsider....this is crazy....no way Paul needs to debate this guy
Oct 4, 2012 at 6:31 p.m.
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bawk bawk bawk
Oct 4, 2012 at 5:40 p.m.
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I can’t believe Mr. Zarban would turnover 53,328 signatures and not check to see if they are Wisconsin residents or even in the 1st district. He said that he’s formally in the military; all the military men I know are better organized than that.
Oct 4, 2012 at 4:46 p.m.
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Both Knilans and Ryan dodging debates.
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