Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, and Republican challenger Dave Magnum have engaged in a series of debates this week, though the argument has centered not on health care or the economy, but on debates themselves.

Each candidate alleges the other has skipped a scheduled debate in the last week. Most recently, Magnum knocked Baldwin for failing to attend a taping Tuesday of “Up Front,” a program hosted by Vicki McKenna on radio station WIBA-AM 1310.

“Vicki McKenna had invited both candidates for Congress to appear on that show and talk about the vice-presidential debate,” Magnum spokesman Adam Peer said. “We agreed to be on there and went down shortly before the program started, but Baldwin wasn’t there.”

The Magnum campaign accused Baldwin of disrespecting voters by canceling her appearance at the last moment.

“For someone who has criticized Dave for not being at a debate, we found it highly hypocritical she would choose not to appear on the show,” Peer said.

According to the Baldwin campaign, the Congresswoman did not shun the debate but rather suffered from a scheduling miscue.

Campaign spokesperson Jerilyn Goodman said the Democratic National Committee, acting independently of the Baldwin campaign, had booked the lawmaker to appear on the program without authorization from the campaign.

“The Democratic National Committee tried to put Democrats on various media Tuesday night to talk about vice-presidential debate. They had called our office to see if Tammy was available, but before we responded that she was not available, they went ahead and booked her,” Goodman said.

Goodman took issue with Magnum’s assertion that Baldwin denied voters a chance to hear the candidates’ stances, saying the vice-presidential discussion had “nothing to do” with the 2nd District Congressional race.

Earlier in the week Baldwin visited a League of Women Voters debate in Madison, an event Magnum did not attend. Baldwin spoke at the debate as planned and expressed disappointment with Magnum’s absence.

The Magnum campaign held the League of Women Voters responsible for the error, saying the league had confirmed Magnum’s participation in the event without any notification from the campaign. Magnum expressed exasperation with the league’s poor handling of the event, noting his campaign is not filled with “clairvoyants.”

The only debate to be held as scheduled thus far took place last week at the Pyle Center, where the candidates squared off on health care, national defense and other issues in a town-hall-style debate.

Both campaigns agreed Wednesday there are five debates scheduled between now and the Nov. 2 election, starting with a face-off Oct. 17 at the Memorial Union.

Magnum has proposed an even more ambitious schedule — a debate with Baldwin every day until the election.

“I cannot wait to begin a direct dialog with the people of this great district about my positive, proactive agenda that focuses on each and every citizen, not just a select few with an exclusionary agenda,” Magnum said in a release.