Candidates unable to sync up

The Republican suggested the first gubernatorial debate be in Youngstown.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The gubernatorial campaigns of Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell and Democrat Ted Strickland both say that while their candidate is ready to debate, their opponent is backing off.
Strickland, a Lisbon congressman, said last week that he would debate Blackwell, the secretary of state, any time in any place.
Blackwell responded with a schedule of five debates between Thursday and June 22. The first debate would have been in Youngstown, where Blackwell is meeting Thursday with local church leaders.
Road blocks
Blackwell said Monday that he and Strickland have different approaches for addressing Ohio's challenges.
"These approaches are too important to be reduced to 30-second TV ads," Blackwell said. "If Ted will join me in a series of debates this summer, Ohioans will receive a real opportunity to access and compare our preparedness and competency to lead this great state."
Blackwell had invited Strickland to assign a team to work with his campaign to work out the logistics.
Strickland agreed that debates between the two candidates were important and named David Wilhelm, the former Democratic National Committee chairman, to work with Blackwell's campaign to determine dates, times and formats.
Blackwell said Tuesday that Strickland, attending a campaign fundraiser in California, is quickly retreating from his original statement to debate any time in any place.
Wilhelm said Blackwell's campaign isn't willing to discuss debate schedules and formats.
Wilhelm said he suggested the two sides meet Monday to discuss the debates, but "unfortunately, the Blackwell campaign rebuffed our offer to sit down and work together."
skolnick@vindy.com