March 3 is the agreed upon date that U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, ex-Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz and state Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford will have their first debate.
The three are vying for the Democratic Party nomination to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by “independent Democrat” Joseph Lieberman of Stamford.
The Norwich Bulletin is hosting.
Tong, as the lesser known of the three candidates, has been pushing for these public events with his opponents because he needs the exposure. His campaign issued an email today urging this mark the start of a series of at least six primary debates.
“Only the first has been settled,” Marc Bradley, Tong’s manager, wrote me in an email. “Tong camp and Bysiewicz camp have agreed to the full series of debates. Still waiting for Team Murphy… ”
Now let’s get the two Republican Senate contenders – losing 2010 GOP candidate Linda McMahon and ousted veteran U.S. Rep. Chris Shays – to agree to some primary matches.
And let’s hope candidates from both parties engage in some actual verbal sparring rather than turning these into the lackluster forums we got in 2010.