Fancy Farm Features Candidate Matchup

PADUCAH, Ky. | When Alison Lundergan Grimes and Mitch McConnell walked out on the stage at the Fancy Farm picnic on Saturday, it marked only the second time the two have appeared together at the same event - and it might be the closest thing to a debate Kentucky voters get to see.

Both candidates say they want to debate. And both have committed to scheduled debates, just not the same ones.

Fancy Farm, with its armies of sign-toting, noisy hecklers, may not be the best place to judge a candidate. But with the speeches broadcast live statewide on Kentucky Educational Television, it gives Kentucky voters the best chance so far to see the candidates side by side.

'It's hard to understand what's going on with the yelling,' said 57-year-old Laurel Copeland, a Grimes supporter who planned to attend the picnic Saturday, adding she would like to see the candidates at a debate where she can 'actually understand them.'

Grimes' finished up her 'Road to Fancy Farm' bus tour Friday by stopping at an old service station in Paducah that has been converted to a campaign office. After the event, Grimes told reporters she is ready to debate McConnell.

'We have accepted the KET debate (on Oct. 13), and we're still waiting to hear from him,' she said.

Meanwhile, McConnell's campaign said it's waiting to hear from Grimes on whether she will attend a candidate forum sponsored by the Kentucky Farm Bureau on Aug. 20. While not technically a debate, the forum would put the candidates in front of an audience at the same time to answer the same questions from the Farm Bureau's board of directors.

And McConnell committed to a June 21 debate hosted by WDRB, but it was canceled after Grimes did not commit to it.

Fancy Farm Features Candidate Matchup

<p>PADUCAH, Ky. | When Alison Lundergan Grimes and Mitch McConnell walked out on the stage at the Fancy Farm picnic on Saturday, it marked only the second time the two have appeared together at the same event - and it might be the closest thing to a debate Kentucky voters get to see. </p><p>Both candidates say they want to debate. And both have committed to scheduled debates, just not the same ones. </p><p>Fancy Farm, with its armies of sign-toting, noisy hecklers, may not be the best place to judge a candidate. But with the speeches broadcast live statewide on Kentucky Educational Television, it gives Kentucky voters the best chance so far to see the candidates side by side. </p><p>'It's hard to understand what's going on with the yelling,' said 57-year-old Laurel Copeland, a Grimes supporter who planned to attend the picnic Saturday, adding she would like to see the candidates at a debate where she can 'actually understand them.' </p><p>Grimes' finished up her 'Road to Fancy Farm' bus tour Friday by stopping at an old service station in Paducah that has been converted to a campaign office. After the event, Grimes told reporters she is ready to debate McConnell. </p><p>'We have accepted the KET debate (on Oct. 13), and we're still waiting to hear from him,' she said. </p><p>Meanwhile, McConnell's campaign said it's waiting to hear from Grimes on whether she will attend a candidate forum sponsored by the Kentucky Farm Bureau on Aug. 20. While not technically a debate, the forum would put the candidates in front of an audience at the same time to answer the same questions from the Farm Bureau's board of directors. </p><p>And McConnell committed to a June 21 debate hosted by WDRB, but it was canceled after Grimes did not commit to it.</p>

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