Purgason: "I deserve a chance to be involved in the process"

State Sen. Chuck Purgason is backing down a bit from his request for "debates" with Rep. Roy Blunt, but has issued a new challenge for his opponent in the GOP primary for the US Senate.   As first reported by the Post-Dispatch's Tony Messenger, Purgason is proposing a series of moderated round-table discussions for each candidate to "put forth our ideas and beliefs and the direction we feel our party needs to adhere to put forth our agenda for America."

Purgason states in his challenge that he doesn't want a contentious debate, but makes it clear that he's not pleased with how Washington Republicans ran the show when they were in charge. From his statement:

I have worked hard trying to keep a conservative voice and ideas alive in the Missouri Senate the past five years. I believe this is one of the reasons our party gained seats when the Republican party in other states and in our United States House and Senate were losing seats this past election.

I deserve a chance to speak and be heard by the leaders of my party and a chance to be included in the discussions on the future of our party.

The past few months I have had the honor to travel the state and talk to many of our finest people of all political parties. The questions I am asked most often are: What happened to the values and principles of our party? Does Washington know what they are doing? Where is the leadership?

I like, many in our party, worked hard to put Republicans in the majority in the Unites States House and Senate and the Presidency. We were rewarded with runaway spending and deficits for our children and grandchildren to pay. We are fighting issues now like cap and trade, single payer health care, and more runaway spending because the people we elected failed to live up to their responsibilities of leadership. I, like many others in my party, want answers and we are not going to get them unless we engage in meaningful dialogue.

Perhaps in response, the Blunt campaign blasted out an email a couple of hours after Purgason's release. In it, Blunt praises himself for his ability to "take the heat."

If you can’t stand the heat, then you aren't ready for work in the kitchen. Raising and supporting a family ... earning your way at a job ... doing your very best in school ... making a farm work ... meeting a payroll. All these things demand hard work, and the ability to take the heat. To me, it's exactly the same for someone who seeks public office.

If you want to be hired by the people, then present yourself to your fellow citizens, look people in the eye, and answer their questions to the best of your ability.

If you want people’s trust, then earn it.

Presumably this means Blunt is willing to "take the heat" from disenchanted members of his own party. 

Here's Purgason's full release:

A few weeks ago, Congressman Roy Blunt issued a challenge to Secretary of State Robin Carnahan to debate him on health care issues in front of the Secretary of State’s Office Building. I heard about this press release around 8:00 p.m. one evening and I did something that I normally do not do. I wrote a press release when I was tired and angry.

In hindsight, this was not the thing I should have done. All of us in the Republican party must strive to remember that Congressman Blunt and I are in the same party. We should not have a debate because debates tend to be more controversial as both candidates try to get each other in that "gotcha" moment that campaign reporters and political pundits try to focus on. A debate, I feel, would not be a constructive way to put forth the principles of the Republican Party. All of us in the Republican Party must strive to stay united in presenting our respective agendas in the upcoming elections.

I want to stress to everyone that a primary can be a very good process in selecting a candidate that best represents the policies and beliefs of a party. But this can only happen if both candidates are able to communicate in a positive and constructive way.

I know the advice given to many candidates in primary races is to ignore their opponents and not answer questions, but I believe I deserve a chance to be involved in the process. I have worked hard for the Republican Party. I served for six years in a minority party and worked hard in campaigns across the state to work for a Republican majority in the Missouri House. I made contributions, turned my business into campaign phone banks headquarters, and helped recruit and train candidates running for office.

I was able to serve as Majority Whip on the House floor and never lost a vote on the floor the two years I was in that capacity. I also was asked to serve as Chairman of Appropriations for Social Services by then Speaker Catherine Hanaway. Because of the declining state budget, the person in charge of that committee would be asked to do the bulk of the hard work of trying to balance a state budget and withstand constant attacks by both the media and the minority party. It was a position, although unpopular, I did to the best of my ability.

In the Missouri Senate as a new freshman, I was asked to carry then Governor Matt Blunt’s legislation on reforming the failing Medicaid system. It was my idea to include the Medicaid Reform Commission in order for the State of Missouri to begin the process of transforming a failing Medicaid system into one that would better serve the most vulnerable citizens of the state. I also held my tongue when I was not allowed to chair the commission I created because of my conservative views, objections by special interest groups, and the leadership of my own party.

I have worked hard trying to keep a conservative voice and ideas alive in the Missouri Senate the past five years. I believe this is one of the reasons our party gained seats when the Republican party in other states and in our United States House and Senate were losing seats this past election.

I deserve a chance to speak and be heard by the leaders of my party and a chance to be included in the discussions on the future of our party.

The past few months I have had the honor to travel the state and talk to many of our finest people of all political parties. The questions I am asked most often are: What happened to the values and principles of our party? Does Washington know what they are doing? Where is the leadership?

I like, many in our party, worked hard to put Republicans in the majority in the Unites States House and Senate and the Presidency. We were rewarded with runaway spending and deficits for our children and grandchildren to pay. We are fighting issues now like cap and trade, single payer health care, and more runaway spending because the people we elected failed to live up to their responsibilities of leadership. I, like many others in my party, want answers and we are not going to get them unless we engage in meaningful dialogue.

That is why I want to propose to Congressman Blunt a series of round the table discussions. These discussions would be between the two of us with a moderator to keep the conversation on the point of focus. The topic of these discussions would be how each of us would put forth our ideas and beliefs and the direction we feel our party needs to adhere to put forth our agenda for America.

I do not want to turn these into debates, but I will work along with Congressman Blunt to put forth meaningful conversations on the direction we think we would lead our party and nation if elected into office. I, along with the people who work hard within our party day in and day out, deserve this dialogue. I await Congressman Blunt’s answer to this proposal.