Congressman Walter Jones Refuses to Debate Candidate Frank Polombo | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: Walter Jones has refused to debate Frank Polombo. This is noteworthy.

Press Release:

    "I was disappointed when I read the article in the Greenville Daily Reflector in which Walter Jones refused the request by the Republican Women of Pitt County to debate me. I am disappointed because the voters of the 3rd District deserve the chance to see the candidates who are asking to represent them in Congress side-by-side discussing their perspectives on the critical problems we face in Eastern North Carolina and the nation. Voters deserve the opportunity to question each candidate, listen to their answers, and hear rebuttals when they disagree or have facts that dispute what the other has claimed.

    I question the real reasons for Jones' refusal. The article sites an email from Glen Downs, Jones' Chief of Staff, to the Women's Club. Downs says, the congressman was not participating in events "that involved sharing time with Palombo," and that Jones was speaking to many Republican groups and would continue to do so, but he didn't want to give additional attention to Palombo's campaign. Downs went on to say that Jones didn't want to give attention to an opponent he said was releasing "untrue" statements about the congressman. Apparently Downs is concerned about the revelation that the Sustainable Defense Task Force, commissioned by Congressmen Barney Frank, Ron Paul and Jones, recommended $1 trillion in defense cuts that would eviscerate the US Armed Forces and in turn cripple the economy of Eastern North Carolina. Jones is upset because, with just basic research, my campaign was able to associate 11 of the 14 members of the task force with George Soros, the radical left-wing billionaire and contributor to their causes. In addition, we were able to quickly determine that the organization selected to manage the task force, the Project on Defense Alternatives, has as a part of their mission statement the following revelation;

    In the Project's perspective a transitional security policy would:

    • Allow significant reductions in the level of armed forces and military spending;

    • Foster progress in arms control and in the gradual demilitarization of international relations; and,

    • Facilitate an increasing reliance on collective and global peacekeeping agencies and nonmilitary means of conflict prevention, containment, and resolution."

    In other words, these people would dramatically reduce the capabilities of our military and place the security of the United States into the hands of the United Nations. It is interesting that the spokesperson for the Project on Defense Alternatives denied taking money from Soros but it wasn't for lack of trying. It seems they asked 3 times but were not successful.

    Jones responded to our concerns by claiming he did not support the recommendations of the Task Force. My question to Jones is simple, what did you expect the Task Force would recommend considering their political bent and the lead agency's mission. It is naïve for anyone, especially an 18-year career politician who represents a District so heavily involved with the U.S. Armed Forces to believe the recommendations would be anything other than what they were, draconian cuts to defense spending.
Congressional Candidate Frank Polombo speaks to the Beaufort County Republican Convention: Above.     photo by Stan Deatherage
    My final concern with Jones' refusing to debate me lies in another troubling statement made by Downs when he said, "We are not going to legitimize a desperate candidate..." What arrogance. Walter Jones does not have the ability to legitimize mine or any other candidate's participation in the most important American process of all, the election of our representatives. I filed the same paperwork and paid the same filing fees as Jones. I am exercising my right under the Constitution to ask the people of the 3rd District to support my campaign and vote for me on May 8th. Jones may feel entitled to the seat he presently holds, but the seat belongs to the people and only they can decide if a candidate is legitimate by the way they vote on election day.

    What is more likely is that Jones wants to hide from his liberal voting record, something he has been able to do for a long time but no longer. I believe he is afraid to stand on a stage with me to discuss his partnership with Barney Frank on the military and on financial reform, his support for Ron Paul's foreign policy and anti-Israel perspective on the Middle East, his cut-and-run policy regarding the war on Islamic Extremism, and his anti-conservative voting record regarding the economy. I did not give Jones the distinction of being the most liberal Republican in the entire Congress, more liberal than 12 Democrats; he earned that from the National Journal by voting the way he did on 105 key legislative issues in 2011. I did not give Jones the distinction of being ranked the most liberal Republican in the NC Congressional delegation in 2011; he earned that from the American Conservative Union, where his conservative rating has slipped precipitously over the years, by the way he voted on issues selected to inform the public whether his philosophical rhetoric matches his voting record.

    Jones can no longer call himself a conservative now that his true colors are out for all to see. He said he would only be in Congress for 12 years when he signed on to the Contract with America back in 1994. He is six years past due on fulfilling his promise to the people of Eastern North Carolina and the time to pay up is now. I stand ready to debate Walter Jones anytime anywhere. He owes it to the people of the 3rd District".