Jim Gilmore Says Direct Debate Negotiations with Networks is a Positive Step

Jim Gilmore Says Direct Debate Negotiations with Networks is a Positive Step

Alexandria, VA -- Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore said today that an agreement reached Sunday night by the Republican presidential campaigns to hold direct debate negotiations with the television networks "is a positive step, but more needs to be done."

But Gilmore, who had two representatives at the closed door meeting in Alexandria, cautioned "more very important issues have to be decided before Republican voters and candidates can be assured the debates are being handled properly."

Gilmore said his campaign remains concerned about the criteria for deciding which candidates participate in the debates, something the Republican campaigns could not agree on Sunday night.

"I continue to be concerned with the attempts by the RNC and the networks to arbitrarily winnow the field," said Gilmore, who has been included in one debate but excluded from the two most recent.  "That is not their job: the only people who are entitled to do that are the Republican primary voters."

Gilmore said his campaign representatives at the meeting agreed the campaigns should talk directly to the networks, not through the RNC, so there could be more transparency and accountability.
"We can solve the format problems through direct negotiations,"
Gilmore said. "But if we do not solve the arbitrary criteria for who is in and who is out of the debates, the Republican voters and some of the Republican candidates will be disenfranchised."