Gov. Rod Blagojevich won't make the proposed Sept. 26 date for Southern Illinois' first gubernatorial debate in 20 years, his campaign officials said Tuesday.

Instead, they want Oct. 3, a request that's raised ire in Judy Baar Topinka's camp.

Sheila Nix, campaign spokeswoman for Democratic incumbent Blagojevich, informed the debate committee - comprised of members of The Southern Illinoisan, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute and WSIU Public Broadcasting - the governor couldn't commit to the Sept. 26 event scheduled in Marion Civic Center.

Blagojevich last week made an oral commitment to the date, but neither he nor Topinka had confirmed it in writing. Nix didn't give particulars of the reason why the date wouldn't work but had this to say:

"As time was going by and we hadn't nailed down the agreements with the Topinka campaign, some other stuff started to come up that just wouldn't let it work."

This is the second date debate organizers have offered to candidates. Both campaigns were offered a chance after the March primary to debate Sept. 5 before Topinka's camp requested a change.

Topinka and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney confirmed in writing Tuesday they would commit to Sept. 26. Whitney was offered a chance to participate after he polled at least 5 percent in an independent poll. He was at 6 percent in a Chicago Tribune poll last week.

Topinka campaign spokesman John McGovern said he had been working under the assumption Sept. 26 was going to be the final commitment for both campaigns. He expressed some annoyance in Blagojevich's last-minute request to change the date to Oct. 3.

"We're very disappointed that the original proposal for this debate has fallen through. We've been committed to this event for months, and we thought we had an understanding that Sept. 26 was the date we were all working toward," McGovern said. "We're willing to consider alternative dates but these last-minute changes are a disservice to the sponsors and the public, who will benefit from a gubernatorial debate."

Ironically, Topinka is scheduled to be in Southern Illinois on Oct. 3. She has a meeting at 1:30 p.m. with The Southern Illinoisan's editorial board.

In the meantime, the debate committee has given both campaigns until the end of the business day Friday to agree to a later date. If neither candidate can commit in writing by then, organizers might give up on the event altogether.

The Rockford Register Star and television station WREX-13 already rescinded a debate invitation last week, as the candidates were unable to agree to a final date there.

Mike Lawrence, Public Policy Institute director and debate committee spokesman, said he hopes Southern Illinois sees better luck in landing a forum.

"I think it's regrettable that they have been unable to agree on a debate date up to this point," Lawrence said. "We would still like to see a debate in Southern Illinois, and we hope they agree on a date by the end of this week.

"If they can't agree it's just not realistic for us to continue spending time and effort on this process. We've spent months on this, and we would like to see it. Because we would like to see a debate in Southern Illinois, I think it's reasonable to give them additional time to reach an agreement, but I also think it's realistic to set a final deadline."

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com

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