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Dear Greg,
I hope you are enjoying your time in Florida at the Republican National Convention. I apologize for disturbing your trip, but recent revelations here in the Hudson Valley require your attention.
In case you missed it, the front page of The Journal News on Wednesday revealed that you instructed staff to generate letters to the editor attacking me – including your order for a “9/11 survivor letter attacking Wagner.” This comes on the heels of an admission by your campaign to having sent a blast e-mail in my name and revelations that you personally registered an attack website aimed at me. An early version of that website featured a picture of my one year old daughter. I even saw that your campaign spokesman called me a “scolded dog” the other day in the paper, and that’s of course in addition to the rounds of robo-calls and mailers.
It is this type vitriol that caused the editorial board of The Examiner to write an editorial entitled “Senator Ball’s Campaign Tactics Have Been Tiresome and Distracting” highlighting your political gamesmanship and negative attacks on me.
A number of campaign consultants have advised me that I should jump all over these headlines and bad press you’ve received and hold press conference after press conference outside of your office, but Greg, I think the people of the Hudson Valley deserve better. They deserve a campaign centered on the issues. Let’s give it to them.
I am writing in response to these revelations about your orchestrated attacks not to respond in kind, but instead to call for a series of debates on the issues. I propose that the first one of these debates be focused on women’s issues. I have noticed your pink “Women for Ball” lawn signs in the district, so I trust that this is a series of issues you are eager to discuss.
So let’s discuss it. We have some genuine policy differences when it comes to women’s issues and the voters deserve a serious discussion on the topic. For instance, I favor maintaining a woman’s right to choose. You are proud of your “100% Pro-Life” voting record and just recently voted, as a delegate, to approve a party platform that calls for a “Human Life Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution. Let’s talk about that. We can also discuss Pay Equality, Domestic Violence and a host of other issues that impact women throughout the Hudson Valley.
Please contact me via e-mail (justin@justinwagner2012.com) as soon as possible and let me know if you are interested in holding such a debate. I’m sure we would be able to work out the details. Greg — we are of the same generation and are both relatively young. Our generation doesn’t have to repeat the tiresome politics of those past — we can give the voters something better.
Sincerely,
Justin Wagner
Democratic Candidate for State Senate
