Ninety minutes before the start of the vice presidential debate last night, a different political face-off took place at Illinois State University -- this one between the 11th District congressional candidates. The event wasn't nearly as dramatic as what took place later in St. Louis, but it did have some interesting moments. We've pulled together some brief highlights in audio format.
Here's Republican Marty Ozinga's opening statement, in which he leveled a preemptive strike at Democrat Debbie Halvorson, attempting to tie her to Gov. Blagojevich:
Here are the first remarks from Halvorson, in which she emphasizes health care and veterans issues as her top priorities:
In his opening comments, Green Party candidate Jason Wallace took a dig at incumbent GOP Rep. Jerry Weller. Referring to the fact that Weller was the only House member to miss Monday's bailout bill vote, Wallace said, "On Monday night, I felt ashamed to be from the 11th Congressional District":
The first round of questioning focused on the proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill. Ozinga described himself as "totally in support of this type of measure -- not because I like it, but because it's necessary." He went on to allege that Halvorson, who opposed the initial House plan, "thinks these kind of things will just correct themselves" and "doesn't understand the seriousness of this difficulty that we find ourselves in."
Halvorson quickly dispelled Ozinga's baseless suggestion that she favors simply letting the crisis run its course. "We need to address the root of the problem, not just put another band-aid on it," she said. "So we also need more banking regulations. I'm a little concerned that this bill does not do anything to help people stay in their homes. There's nothing in there that says you can renegotiate your mortgage." Listen to the entire exchange:
For his part, Wallace proposed dividing up the $700 billion among the American people. He said this would amount to $23,000 for every citizen, which isn't close to correct. If you divide $700 billion by 200 million (the estimated number of 18+ citizens), it comes to $3,500 per person. Nonetheless, the crowd liked the idea:
The energy discussion provided one of the more interesting contrasts of the night. Ozinga talked about the strain rising fuel costs are putting on his concrete company and said, "I would support a policy that pursues all opportunities for energy. Especially now, as a bridge to the future, and that would be to drill and drill everywhere we think oil is found." Drill everywhere there might be oil? Ozinga also made a passing reference to the need for biofuels and endorsed nuclear power:
Halvorson clearly noticed what was missing from Ozinga's answer -- any mention of wind power. So that's where she started, pointing out the potential for this industry in Illinois and emphasizing the promise of "green jobs":
Finally, the candidates discussed their plans for Iraq and Afghanistan. Ozinga was predictably vague, saying: "We should get out of there as soon as we can, but not until we achieve some goals relative to the security of that country and their ability to secure themselves." He offered no further detail regarding what "goals" he'd like to see "accomplished." On Afghanistan, he said we need to "get that job done," and if we're not "getting the job done" we must "improve and increase the effort there":
Halvorson didn't offer a great amount of detail either, but was more direct in her answers. Echoing the Obama-Biden ticket, she said we should bring our troops home from Iraq "as soon as possible, and at the same time safe and responsibly," adding that our focus "should be on Afghanistan":
This event was apparently the only formal debate between the 11th District candidates. The rest of their meetings will be forums conducted by local organizations or interest groups.
Audio courtesy of WJBC.
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