Shots Across The Bow

US Senate GOP Primary Debate

The following has been cleaned up and formatted just a bit to make it easier to read.
EB=Ed Bryant
VH=Van Hilleary
BC=Bob Corker
HF=Harold Ford

• Q1 To VH on abortion:
  
  • VH claims he didn't really change his position, it just seems that way.
    
  • BC says he always opposed partial birth abortions no matter what VH says
    
  • EB says I've always been 100%pro life
  
  
• Q2 To EB on independent voters, and how to win them:
  
  • EB says TN is not independent, but conservative, so he'll get the votes.
    
  • BC says he'll win independents because he's a successful businessman.
    
  • VH says I'm an independent too!
  
  
• Q3 To BC Can you buy an election in TN?
  
  • BC I've driven 103 miles,(I think he meant 103,000) this is a grassroots campaign, despite my outspending my opponents a zillion to one.
    
  • VH I sure hope not.
    
  • EB BC hasn't disclosed his full tax return Tax returns are important to disclose information. I challenge you to release your full return.
    
  • BC says I released my 1040 and that's enough
    
  • EB was that yes or no?
    
  • VH says BC said no. We need to know about BC finances.
    
  • BC fights back by calling them lobbyists.
  
  
• Q4 to VH define conservative:
  
  • VH I believe it in my heart. I behave as I believe. Low taxes, small gov't. Challenges BC on abortion again. Strong national defense.
    
  • EB TN conservative are of the heart, and too often they convert during election. I've been to DC and I was a conservative while there. Just check my record.
    
  • BC Not talkers, but doers. I cut state spending, using conservative principles for positive results.
  
  
• Q5 to EB you voted no on minimum raise. still against it?
  
  • EB yep, unless there's an offset to the small businesses.
  • BC I agree with EB. Private sector should ensure a living wage.
  • VH. voted to slow up increases, but voted for final bills. Rather see increased minimum wage than welfare (Shades of Kerry saying he was for it before he was against it)
  
  
• Q6 to BC GSMNP should the gov spend more?
  
  • BC Smokies are wonderful. Yes fed parks maintained by fed dollars.
    
  • VH Yes. For the children.
    
  • EB Manhattan project for 5 year alternative fuel vehicles. (I was waiting for a follow up that linked their response to earmarks to make the question relevant nationally.)
  
  
• Q7 HF called them the three stooges.
  
  • VH Stooges were pretty popular. HF gets points for style but not substance.
    
  • EB HF is a young man, perhaps too young and eager. Strange way to "raise the level of the discourse"
    
  • BC I campaign positively, not like my scum-sucking opponents from both sides of the aisle. (I wish one of them would have had the nads to just flat out say, "Harold Ford? Ah, he's just an *&*^^%$!")
  
  
• Q8 Something about pensions and COLA raises for contractors. I got a phone call.
  
  • EB the money is there, we need to revisit it and fix it.
    
  • BC dispute is actually between private contractors for the gov't and their employees. But I'll try to help behind the scenes.
    
  • VH (missed response)
  
  
• Q9 to BC Chris Clemm says you opposed conservative candidates and supported Democrats.
  
  • BC Not true. I'm a Republican. It says so right here by my name.
    
  • VH I don't doubt Clem. He's a stand up guy. And BC is lying about cutting taxes; he raised them
    
  • BC I never said I cut taxes in Chattanooga. We have the lowest tax rates since the 50's And I supported you in 2002.
    
  • VH He's voted for, supported, and given money to democrats.
    
  • BC I have never in my life raised money for a Democrat.(That's a very categorical statement, and one that can easily be researched. I'll bet Hilleary is looking into it right now.)
    
  • EB I cannot think of a conservative principle that say you raise taxes to deal with a budget crisis.
    
  • BC I'm sorry my opponents keep bringing this up. EB raised taxes, and VH supported tax raises.
    
  • VH Cheap shot. The fee increase was part of a 240 billion tax cut.
    
  • EB I'll stack my record on cutting taxes against Bob anytime.
  
  
• Q10 Support TN education and college degrees.
  (Phone call. I'm lost. Another disadvantage to watching it on TV instead of going...) Hilleary is talking about taking on too many projects

• Last Question When you get to DC, what will your focus be. One word.
  
  • VH Iraq
    
  • EB opportunity
    
  • BC opportunity

OK, they're blathering their prepared closing remarks now. Here are my impressions:

• I've got to wonder about Bill Williams as moderator. One of the key issues in the debate was how Bob Corker was representing (or misrepresenting)his record, but Bill stifled that debate, and looked annoyed that the candidates tried to mix it up a little. Granted, Hilleary could have done a better job on the attack by using enough detail that Corker couldn't keep wiggling around (such as when Tom Humphries concisely described the tax records Corker had not released).
• I also wonder about the questions. In light of the events over the last couple of days, I'd expected a lot more questions on the military, the war, and foreign policy in general. We know that all three of them are virtually identical on domestic issues.
• Bob Corker was a successful businessman and a good mayor, but he hasn't said anything to convince me that those skill sets will transfer to the Senate. He's very folksy, and he's got a lot of money behind him, and that makes him the favorite to win the primary, and he's the only candidate polished enough to compete with the Harold Ford machine.

  But I don't like him. He's slick, not substantial. I'm listening to him right now and he's still using the same tactic of saying he doesn't want to be negative while simultaneously attacking Hilleary and Bryant. What turns me off can be summed up by his commercials claiming that Chattanooga property taxes are the lowest they've been in 50 years, implying that he cut taxes.

  But when pinned down, he admits he never did.

  I don't like deceptive tactics.
  

• Van Hilleary is sincere, earnest, and earnestly sincere, and I'm sure he has a position on things other than abortion, and that "Bob Corker is lying about his record" but he never put it out there. Even during the post debate interview, he was attacking Bob Corker. His strongest point is he's comfortable talking about foreign policy, unlike his two opponents. Given current events, that is very close to a deal breaker. As a Senator, they'd better have national defense as their top priority, not some feel good fuzzy "opportunity."

  I did like what he said during the post debate interview, about needing to send somebody to Washington who won't need training wheels. Corker is trying to score points off of Hilleary and Bryant having been in Washington, and Hilleary turned it back on him with that remark.
  I wish he'd managed to get it into the debate.
  

• Ed Bryant seems to me to be the candidate with the most integrity of the three. He seems the least political of the three candidates, which may make him the least electable. On the plus side, he's the only one who talked about immigration either during the debate or the post debate interviews. On the minus side, his campaign doesn't seem to be lively enough to beat Harold Ford.

So, who will I be voting for?

I was leaning towards Ed Bryant after the first debate, but his answer to the final question really bothers me, particularly in light of all that has happened over the last couple of days. The person we send to the Senate has to understand that events in the Middle East have to be our top priority, followed closely by immigration reform.

I still like Bryant, but based on the current state of the world, I'm probably going to vote for Hilleary.

Posted by Rich at July 13, 2006 7:09 PM | TrackBack