After more than three weeks of pressure, Democrat Ned Lamont suddenly agreed Thursday to debate former Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy next week in a one-on-one television debate.
Many political observers said it was a major mistake for Lamont to avoid debating, and Malloy himself predicted it would backfire. Now, Lamont says he has agreed to debate because of Malloy's two negative television commercials that have included attacks on Lamont's business career. The first started Friday night -- more than two weeks before the August 10 primary.
"We thought we were going to have a positive last two weeks of the campaign,'' Lamont said in an interview Thursday. "Dan went up with a hard negative commercial with attacks on me and my company. We've had to respond. All of a sudden, the world changed in a week. I had to figure out what's the best way to respond to these claims.''
Lamont said the attack was not unexpected because Malloy had run a commercial near the end of the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial primary that depicted New Haven Mayor John DeStefano in a dress in an attempt to make a point about women's health care.
"We saw the dress ad,'' Lamont said. "I can't say we were shocked. ... If you want to talk about the folks who have been in my company for 25 years, let's do it face to face. I'm ready to respond.''
Malloy's campaign has charged that Lamont laid off workers and that 70 percent of the employees have left the company. Lamont, though, has countered that he sold a division of the company, and many of his employees went to work for new cable operators.
The debate will be broadcast at 3 p.m. on WFSB-TV, Channel 3 and on WNPR radio, and it will be re-broadcast later that night on Connecticut Public Television and on public radio.
Malloy has been pushing for weeks for a televised, one-on-one debate, saying that the joint appearances with multiple candidates do not provide for detailed exchanges between the two top Democrats. Malloy could have received one hour of free television time next week, but he said he wanted to have Lamont on the stage instead.
"I hope Ned will agree to a wide-open format that allows us to engage each other directly in a real conversation,'' Malloy said in a statement. "Ned himself has said he doesn't like the 'one-minute canned response format.' I couldn't agree more. So let's not do that.''
"There are some real difference between Ned and me, in terms of our values, experience, positions on key issues, and visions for how Connecticut state government should be run,'' Malloy said. "The contrast couldn't be any sharper, or the choice any more clear. The best way to allow voters to make that choice is for them to see and hear us side by side in an open discussion.''
Lamont has been running a front-runner's strategy of avoiding debates. In the same way, Republican Linda McMahon and Democrat Richard Blumenthal did not show up at a debate Tuesday night at Trinity College in Hartford. Four other candidates, however, debated that night.