Steve Beshear Will Debate David Williams And Gatewood Galbraith. This Will Be A Good One -- I Hope. Read More.

Beshear accepts invitation to broadcasters' debate
By ROGER ALFORD

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear accepted an invitation Monday to a second debate with two challengers seeking his job in the Nov. 8 general election.

Beshear will appear with Republican David Williams and independent Gatewood Galbraith on Oct. 11 at a political forum in Richmond sponsored by the Kentucky Broadcasters Association and the Kentucky League of Women Voters.

Beshear spokesman Matt Erwin confirmed the appearance on Monday afternoon.

With a strong lead in the polls, Beshear has been declining most invitations to debate his opponents in his bid for re-election to a second term.

Besides the Oct. 11 forum, Beshear also has agreed to face Williams and Galbraith in a Kentucky Educational Television debate that will be aired statewide on Oct. 31. Already, Beshear has shared a stage with his challengers at a church picnic in western Kentucky and at a Kentucky Farm Bureau forum.

The Williams campaign had no comment about Beshear's planned appearance in Richmond. Galbraith said Beshear is being unfair to Kentucky voters by not appearing at more debates.

"He owes it to the people to appear in front of every crowd they ask him to to defend his record and his policies," Galbraith said.

Beshear has been harshly criticized by political pundits for not agreeing to more debates, including two scheduled for this week.

Having banked more than $5 million in campaign contributions, Beshear has been reaching out to voters with political ads being aired on television stations across the state. His primary message has been that he took over as governor just as a recession struck the state and nation, and that he has provided leadership necessary to foster economic recovery and to keep state government solvent amid shrinking revenue.

In an attempt to overcome Beshear's popularity in the polls, opponents have been trying to associate him with President Barack Obama, an unpopular political figure in Kentucky in part because of his administration's policies that hurt the state's coal industry.

Beshear has said that he supports Obama's re-election but that he disagrees with the president's policies that have made it more difficult for coal companies to get the federal permits necessary to open new mines or expand existing ones.