ROCKFORD, Ill.—U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling (R-Colona) has accepted an invite to debate his opponent in Rockford on Channel 23 WIFR. The Schilling campaign awaits a reply from the Bustos campaign.
23 WIFR, Rockford, has arranged a LIVE joint appearance for the 17th District Congressional race. The Schilling campaign has accepted the invitation, and 23 WIFR is still awaiting word from the Bustos campaign. The debate will take place on the WIFR 6 p.m. newscast on a night during the last three weeks of October. The format for the hour-long broadcast/webcast will be as follows:
1. Candidates will appear on the news set on both outside positions, flanking the news anchors.
2. Questions for the candidates will be solicited through WIFR's web channel and WIFR's Facebook. Candidates will be asked for their responses. In addition to questions aimed at both, there may be
specific questions aimed at just one candidate.
3. The question and answer forum will air from 6-6:30 p.m. on 23 WIFR, 23-2‚the station's second channel which normally carries WIFR's 24/7 weather channel, and streamed live on the web at www.wifr.com . At 6:30, 23 WIFR will return to normal content. The forum will continue until 7 p.m. on 23-2 and be streamed live on WIFR.com.
4. There will be some commercial breaks for this event. There will be no spots involving either candidate.
Schilling said he looks forward to taking part in the debate.
"I'm excited to talk about my record of creating jobs, balancing the budget, and leading by example in Washington. The voters deserve an honest debate about the issues, and I hope my opponent accepts this debate invitation."
