A Hart/Altmire Health Care Debate?

Recently in an article at the P-G on Howard Dean going door-to-door for Jason Altmire, Melissa Hart Campaign director, Luke Myslinski, was quoted as saying that the Congresswoman would "talk health care with [Altmire] any time."

The very next day, the Altmire campaign issued a press release that quoted, in full a letter sent to the Hart Campaign from the Altmire Campaign. The letter opened with:

I was delighted to read the comments of your campaign manager, Luke Myslinski, in the July 30th Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article by Bill Heltzel that you would be willing to discuss health care issues with me at "any time."

Because health care is one of the most important issues facing constituents in the Fourth Congressional District, it is imperative that voters across the district have an opportunity to hear our views first-hand. I hope that we can quickly schedule the discussions to which you have agreed. It is my hope that we can schedule a series of health care discussions throughout the district, including at least one in each of the district's six counties. I will accommodate your schedule, but below are some proposed dates:

Any date and time from August 1, 2006, through November 7, 2006, inclusive.

As far as I know, the Hart Campaign hasn't responded back about this to the Altmire campaign. This evening Altmire e-mailed me this this comment:

As I expected, we have not heard back from the Hart campaign since we called her campaign spokesman's bluff. Not surprisingly, Hart has also officially rejected offers from other respected non-partisan organizations, like the League of Women Voters, to host a candidates forum/debate.

In all fairness, I contacted the Hart campaign this evening looking for any comments or information from them. I will keep you posted.

technorati tags:Melissa Hart, Jason Altmire