Brown, Warren Both Drop Out of Final Debate
Both camps issued statements declining the planned exchange.
Both Republican Senator Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren bowed out of Tuesday's final televised debate, citing safety concerns surrounding Hurricane Sandy.
Brown's camp was the first to announce its decision, releasing a statement at 4:22 p.m..
"The Scott Brown campaign today announced that out of concern for the hardship faced by people in the path of Hurricane Sandy that he will not be participating in tomorrow's fourth and final debate," said Brown Communication Director Colin Reed. "It is simply not appropriate to go forward with a political debate when a disaster strikes. The focus for all of us before, during and after the storm needs to be on emergency response and disaster relief, not campaigns and politics."
Warren's camp followed suit at 5:57 p.m. with their own statement.
"Elizabeth believes the focus now must be on public safety and ensuring people get the help they need during the storm and in its aftermath. With the concern for public safety and cleanup paramount, Elizabeth believes the debate should not be held tomorrow," wrote Warren Campaign Manager Mindy Myers.
Brown and Warren were scheduled to meet Tuesday night in Boston for a live debate moderated by CNN's John King. The debate was sponsored by a group of Boston media outlets, which had planned to go forward with the Tuesday event, according to boston.com.
Stephen Smith
8:38 am on Tuesday, October 30, 2012
It was the right decision by both candidates to drop out of today's debate as we have many Massachusetts residents without power. I hope though that both candidates will try to reschedule the debate as soon as possible
Neil
9:23 am on Tuesday, October 30, 2012
It's a big storm, and most of the damage stretches from West Virginia to Pennsylvania, and of course where Sandy came to shore, Atlantic City. We have towns with power out around Boston, and down the cape and islands but not the kind of severe damage elsewhere.
I understand why Scott wants to postpone the debate. I do not understand why he wants to cancel it.
For a guy who found no time in two years to hold a town hall for voters to ask questions and get answers, canceling the last debate is a slap in the face.