Friday night's U.S. Senate Debate
The good folks at Public Radio East held a candidates forum for the five Democrats running in the U.S. Senate race Friday. The winner will presumably face incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole this fall.
I'll post a link to my story for Saturday's paper when I get it. Update: Click here for Saturday's story.
If you didn't catch the debate live, the station says it will have a podcast up this weekend. In the house were State Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro, Chapel Hill investment advisor Jim Neal, Lexington trucking company owner Duskin Lassiter, Moncure podiatrist Howard Staley and Lumberton lawyer Marcus Williams.
And if you were to ask me who won, I'd probably say nobody. The format of the debate did not really let the candidates mix it up much or challenge one another. If you listened, though, you got a pretty good over-view of the candidates and where they stood.
In a story for Saturday's paper I wrote, "Hagan and Neal are the front-runners in the race by virtue of their campaign organizations, fund-raising and relatively widespread name recognition compared with the three other Democrats in the race."
Some of those advantages were on display Friday night. Both Hagan and Neal had at least a dozen supporters and staffers on site and both were a little bit more polished in their deliveries than the other three competitors.
Also, it was the Hagan and Neal campaigns that went to the trouble of spinning your humble correspondent following the debate. A sampling of the tit-for-tat:
Hagan's camp accused Neal of using notes during the 1 minute closing statement period.
Apparently, there was a rule that candidates weren't supposed to read from prepared remarks. However, they were allowed pad and paper. Neal apparently violated this rule, according to Hagan's folks. The forum organizers weren't sure.
The ref says: I'll leave that to you. I'm surprised they didn't complain more about the two or three times that Neal went over his allotted time during the debate, ignoring admonitions to be quiet.
Hagan's camp accused Neal of flip-flopping on Iraq.
Neal said something to the effect that he would let military commanders decide how best and quickly to withdraw troops. Hagan's press folks sent and e-mail saying this was a flip flop because he has said he was in favor of setting a 2008/09 withdrawal timeline.
The ref says: Neal was pretty clear that he wanted troops out of Iraq and was the only candidate to say he would vote to cut off funding for the war as a means of leverage over the White House.
Neal complained that Hagan insisted the Friday debate be shortened.
Neal complained that Hagan insisted the debate be shortened from 90 minutes to the hour format that eventually was conducted.
The ref says: The folks at Public Radio East confirmed that Hagan requested and got the format change.
More: The complaint fits in with a theme that Neal is developing, criticizing Hagan for not debating more.
After the jump: AP's quick take on Friday's events.
From our friends at the Associated Press:
- NEW BERN, N.C. (AP) _ All five Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate, meeting in a debate for the first time Friday, agreed to end the war in Iraq, but the front-runners disagreed on how quickly troops should be pulled from the country.
State Sen. Kay Hagan said the war should not end immediately.
"I don't think we can pull out just on Day 1," the Greensboro Democrat said in the forum hosted by Public Radio East and the North Carolina League of Women Voters. "I think we need to have a diplomatic surge. This needs a political solution."
Hagan's chief rival, Chapel Hill corporate financial adviser Jim Neal, disagreed, saying he would even vote in Congress to withhold war funding in an effort to end the conflict.
"The time to talk about a diplomatic surge is way over," Neal said. "It's time to get out of Iraq."
The other candidates also differed on how to best end the conflict.
Lexington trucker Duskin Lassiter said he would travel to Iraq to meet with tribal leaders in the nation to negotiate an end to conflict. Lumberton attorney Marcus Williams said U.S. troops should be removed expeditiously. Moncure podiatrist Howard Staley said U.S. troops should provide stability until Iraq is strong enough should survive on its own.
"I don't think the Congress should directly get involved in telling the military how to operate in a war zone," Staley said.
All five candidates are vying for the Senate seat held by Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole. She faces Pete Di Lauro in the GOP primary on May 6.
Neal, a political newcomer, galvanized the liberal wing of the Democratic party last year with a willingness to openly discuss his homosexuality, jumping into the race after Hagan initially declined a bid. And on Friday he continued to stake out positions to the left of Hagan, a political veteran who has won the support of party leaders such as Gov. Mike Easley.
Neal said he supports publicly financed political campaigns while Hagan said that public financing should be reserved for judicial elections, adding that election contributions need to be transparent.
On immigration, Hagan said she supports using a fence and other technologies to enforce the border, a stance echoed by Lassiter and Staley. But Neal said the fence sends a wrong message and instead argued that immigration policy should punish businesses who are violating the law by hiring illegal immigrants. Neal also emphasized that the nation needs to provide a pathway to citizenship for those here illegally.
The one-hour debate touched on a range of issues: Staley touted his expertise on questions about health care, having worked in the industry; Williams said his work has given him hands-on experience dealing with people who have lost their home to foreclosure; Lassiter, noting his trucking business, said he's best seen the affects of rising energy costs and proposed a $380 bill energy plan.
Neal, meanwhile, ended the debate with a call to Hagan to meet again.
"This is an important election, and there are fundamental differences between myself and Sen. Kay Hagan," he said. "But if Sen. Hagan has her way, they will never be known."
Hagan said in an interview that she is looking forward to more debates, including a televised forum in the works.
Comments (2)
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It obvious that your station is biased and misled. Not only did Dr. Staley have several supporters in the audience, your account of the forum is soaked in yellow journalism. No one is leading this U.S. Senatorial race except the "undecided" vote. Jim Neal was openly rude to Dr. Staley insistently talking during his time on the last question. We cannot trust Jim Neal -- a individual who fooled around on his wife -- cheated with another man and then decided he was homosexual after 10 years of marriage. He does not respect the institution of marriage, nor did he respect his vows of marriage -- all in the name of his perverted desire to be with another man. He does not respect the dignity of a senatorial campaign. Why don't you ask Jim Neal about the events he sponsored only to have no one show up? Why don't you ask him how much money he is earning from this campaign? Of course, he can earn money from this campaign legally -- but if voters understood this, what would they have to say? The other candidates are not making money from their campaigns -- not in the slightest. They DO NOT pay themselves a salary from campaign contributions. They work independently and then campaign in the midst of this. Have you noticed Jim Neal avoids the Bible-belt communities? Perhaps, he is afraid voters there will preach Leviticus to him. Your station did not ask him about his homosexuality during this debate. Your station did not ask Kay Hagan why lingered so long to decided whether of not to run -- first saying several times she was satisfied at being a state senator and would not run for U.S. Senator. Your station did not ask Duskin Lassiter or the latecomer Marcus Williams what motivated their decisions to run. If you think any of these candidates -- outside of Dr. Staley and Mr. Williams are qualified for the issues at hand -- you are a crazy bunch of muckrakers. These two candidates are the only candidates who possess qualifications outstanding to the others. Either one of them would offer a fresh state for this state.
Posted on April 4, 2008 3:54 PM
It obvious your station is biased and misled. Not only did Dr. Staley have several supporters in the audience, your account of the forum is soaked in yellow journalism. No one is leading this U.S. Senatorial race except the "undecided" vote. Jim Neal was openly rude to Dr. Staley insistently talking during his time on the last question. We cannot trust Jim Neal -- an individual who fooled around on his wife -- cheated with another man and then decided he was homosexual after 10 years of marriage. He does not respect the institution of marriage, nor did he respect his vows of marriage -- all in the name of his perverted desire to be with another man. He does not respect the dignity of a senatorial campaign. Why don't you ask Jim Neal about the events he sponsored only to have no one show up? Why don't you ask him how much money he is earning from this campaign? Of course, he can earn money from this campaign legally -- but if voters understood this, what would they have to say? The other candidates are not making money from their campaigns -- not in the slightest. They DO NOT pay themselves a salary from campaign contributions. They work independently and then campaign in the midst of this. Have you noticed Jim Neal avoids the Bible-belt communities? Perhaps, he is afraid voters there will preach Leviticus to him. Your station did not ask him about his homosexuality during this debate. Your station did not ask Kay Hagan why she lingered so long to decide whether of not to run -- first saying several times she was satisfied at being a state senator and would not run for U.S. Senator. Your station did not ask Duskin Lassiter or the latecomer Marcus Williams what motivated their decisions to run. If you think any of these candidates -- outside of Dr. Staley and Mr. Williams are qualified for the issues at hand -- you are a crazy bunch of muckrakers. These two candidates are the only candidates who possess superior qualifications outstanding to the others. Either one of them would offer a fresh start for this state.
Posted on April 4, 2008 4:02 PM