Marathon Pundit: ILSen: Mob Banker pulls out of downstate debate

Downstate Illinoisans believe they get ignored by the rest of the state. And for the most part, they're right. So imagine how southern Illinois voters feel hat Alexi Giannoulias, the Democratic US Senate candidate and failed mob banker, has pulled out of a Carbondale debate scheduled for later this month.

Giannoulias has had a rough day--his Chicago Tribune endorsement session can be classified as a disaster. He flip flopped on renegotiating NAFTA and when asked if he could identify any federal spending cuts over the last two years--he couldn't.

And check out the lame excuse the Chicagoan used to back out of the debate.

From the Southern Illinoisan:

An upcoming debate between Illinois candidates for U.S. Senate has been canceled, as organizers say Democratic candidate Alexi Giannoulias has turned down a request to participate.

The debate, originally scheduled for Oct. 21 at the WSIU broadcasting studios in Carbondale and co-sponsored by The Southern Illinoisan, was meant to include senatorial candidates from all three of Illinois' legally established political parties, but Giannoulias' withdrawal caused organizers to cancel the event.

David Yepsen, of SIUC's Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, said the Giannoulias campaign refused to participate in the debate because the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate, Michael Labno, was not allowed to join the discussion.

"It's disappointing, but these things happen in politics," Yepsen said. "The rules we put together were that we would invite any candidate of an established political party. We're not going to change the rules for one candidate."