Webster Won’t Debate Grayson

Republican gubernatorial candidate and former state legislator Daniel Webster announced Wednesday that he will not debate Democratic incumbent Alan Grayson (pictured), fearing that such a debate would devolve into “gutter theatrics,” according to The Orlando Sentinel.

Initially, Webster refused to debate Grayson unless it was a one-on-one exchange between the two leading candidates. Grayson insisted that he would only participate in a debate if every candidate for Florida’s 8th congressional district were invited. The Central Florida Urban League held such a debate last week in which Grayson and several other candidates participated, but Webster was absent.

Webster claims that he has “run a positive campaign without making a single personal attack on Congressman Grayson,” in contrast to Grayson’s campaign, which included a widely criticized ad in which Webster is labeled “Taliban Dan” and framed as a religious extremist on par with the Taliban.