My Dem incumbent opponent, Antonio Delgado, a carpetbagging Wall Street criminal defense lawyer who, in just 18 months, has amassed the most pro-Trump voting record of any Dem in Congress, even went to Trump's Christmas party, and has no plan to sustain us through the current crisis, let alone emerge from it, having failed to prevent me from making the ballot, has told media and other debate hosts that he will not attend any debate to which I'm invited. He doesn't want to be accountable for his record, to have to defend his non-viable policies, or have to say anything on his own behalf other than to point at the novice Republican and say "I'm better than that guy," and let our district's enrollment disparity in favor of Democrats do the rest.
And they will accede, because both from his seat in Congress and from his vast campaign budget, he butters their bread. None dare lose out on his advertising budget, his handing out of pork, or access to him for their lobbying efforts.
Unless We, the People, raise enough of a ruckus. This shouldn't be partisan. The First Amendment's chief purpose is to prevent the closing off by government of information to the voting public, and that's exactly what Delgado is trying to do. Contact every media outlet in the area, public and private, every 19th District Chamber of Commerce (Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan, Ulster, Broome, Dutchess, Montgomery, and Rensselaer Counties), the League of Women Voters, the county Farm Bureaus, and demand that all debates be open to all balloted candidates. Demand that they cover Delgado's power play to shield himself -- and his Wall Street sponsors -- from criticism before the voters as news.
And, of course, share this to all of your social media accounts.
If direct action is needed, we'll know that soon, and I'll let you know.