Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman accepted an invitation to a ‘Lincoln-Douglas’ style debate with frontrunner Newt Gingrich, in addition to criticizing the ‘telling’ decision by Mitt Romney not to debate Gingrich one-on-one.
“We look forward to discussing the issues that matter to the American people in a serious, substantive debate with Speaker Gingrich later this month,” said Huntsman’s campaign spokesman, Tim Miller. “It is telling that Governor Romney has declined to participate because this substantive format makes it hard for him to hide from his record.”
Romney was invited to debate Gingrich in Washington D.C. on December 19th, but he declined. Huntsman has declined to participate in an Iowa debate moderated by Donald Trump.
The debate with Gingrich could provide Huntsman to steal votes from a strong rival (if he performs well). When Gingrich participated in the same kind of event with his friend Herman Cain, however, the candidates took pains not to disagree with each other.
