All four candidates in the 8th Congressional District will debate Oct. 11 at the River Campus in Cape Girardeau, but Democratic contender Tommy Sowers wants a looser schedule and more debates than proposed by incumbent U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson.

Emerson's campaign called for debate Wednesday morning. Along with Cape Girardeau, she said, she wants to meet her opponents Oct. 13 in Poplar Bluff and Oct. 17 in Rolla. Three Rivers Community College agreed to host the Poplar Bluff event.

Emerson, a Cape Girardeau Republican, said each debate should last one hour, with one focused on agriculture, one on the economy and the third a more general discussion.

"It's my hope that we can agree to have this important conversation with voters in October," Emerson said in a news release announcing the debate proposal. "This election is of critical importance to the Eighth District and to our nation, and the consequences of what happens here in Missouri will have a dramatic effect on the next two years in Congress."

Emerson has faced weak opponents and not debated in recent elections. There are two reasons for debates this year, Emerson said. The first is the intense voter interest, which she said is higher this year than in many past elections. The second reason is that blogs and other new media make it more difficult to counter false information, she said.

"It is easy to start rumors and they spread and candidates don't get a chance to explain what things are really like," she said.

Sowers is willing to debate but doesn't see a need have all three in a single week, campaign manager Jonathan Feifs said. The Sowers campaign would also like a fourth debate in Farmington, Mo., he said.

"There are 90 days before the election," he said. "I am confident these are not the only three days that work."

The Sowers campaign does not object to either Libertarian Party candidate Rick Vandeven of Chaffee and independent Larry Bill of Jackson participating, Feifs said.

Josh Haynes of Emerson's campaign said the dates were chosen to fit the congressional schedule. As of late Wednesday, the Emerson campaign had not received a response from Sowers, he said.

"At this point those are the dates for which we have issued invitations," Haynes said. "Those are the dates we can confirm."

Vandeven and Bill said they accepted Emerson's call to debate and will use the opportunity to bring their views to a wider audience.

"I am thankful they are going to let us present our case," Bill said. "For me, it is going to be about getting more publicity, and it will be a good thing for contrasting our opinions and attitudes and show things we believe it."

Vandeven said he wants to present Libertarian economic ideas and amplify his call to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. What he called "rampant corporate welfare" must stop and the U.S. should not and cannot afford to be world policeman.

"The wars are something I am pretty passionate about, and that is what I am going to focus on," he said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent addresses:

Cape Girardeau, MO

Poplar Bluff, MO

Rolla, MO