Senate Debate
The debate was a free-for-all. Democrat Ben Cardin, Republican Michael Steele and Unity candidate Kevin Zeese spent an hour trying to get votes for the upcoming U.S. Senate race. Candidates decided on what could be called the Fox News format: no rules. Participants were free to cut one another off, make snide remarks during other's soliloquies, and ignore the stocked questions all together.
So what did the candidates do for this one-hour meelee? Bickered over which candidates were "hand-picked" by their parties. Steele said Cardin's primary opponent was given a bad shake by his party and noted that Mfume entered the race before Cardin, as if the nomination should have been decided on a first come, first serve basis. They also discussed Cardin's record on issues like Iraq and health care - he repeated his "took on the pharmaceutical companies" line. Cardin tied Steele to President Bush at every given chance. Zeese railed against corporate welfare, political contributions, the Patriot Act, the Iraq war - basically made us liberal Democrats wish he had a D after his name.
The format made for crowded conversation interrupted with commercial breaks - we'd guess at most 30 minutes were devoted to substantive conversation - but at least it was a healthy exercise in democracy. Steele actually came out with a few solid positions, including his opposition to embryonic stem cell research and support for the Bush tax cuts, and didn't stray from his smooth talk. Huge shock: the Lt. Governor advocated transit-oriented development! (It's unlikely the car-dependent suburbanite would actually put the money where his mouth) Cardin faced touch challenges from the left in Kevin Zeese (these moments were met with huge smiles on Steele's face). And all the candidates had a chance to showcase their personalities and positions. There wasn't a clear political winner, but it gave Marylanders a chance to see all three major candidates engaged with one another.
See for yourself when the debate reairs tonight at 7pm on Maryland Public Television's By the People Debate Week.
from The League: Reassembled
So what did the candidates do for this one-hour meelee? Bickered over which candidates were "hand-picked" by their parties. Steele said Cardin's primary opponent was given a bad shake by his party and noted that Mfume entered the race before Cardin, as if the nomination should have been decided on a first come, first serve basis. They also discussed Cardin's record on issues like Iraq and health care - he repeated his "took on the pharmaceutical companies" line. Cardin tied Steele to President Bush at every given chance. Zeese railed against corporate welfare, political contributions, the Patriot Act, the Iraq war - basically made us liberal Democrats wish he had a D after his name.
The format made for crowded conversation interrupted with commercial breaks - we'd guess at most 30 minutes were devoted to substantive conversation - but at least it was a healthy exercise in democracy. Steele actually came out with a few solid positions, including his opposition to embryonic stem cell research and support for the Bush tax cuts, and didn't stray from his smooth talk. Huge shock: the Lt. Governor advocated transit-oriented development! (It's unlikely the car-dependent suburbanite would actually put the money where his mouth) Cardin faced touch challenges from the left in Kevin Zeese (these moments were met with huge smiles on Steele's face). And all the candidates had a chance to showcase their personalities and positions. There wasn't a clear political winner, but it gave Marylanders a chance to see all three major candidates engaged with one another.
See for yourself when the debate reairs tonight at 7pm on Maryland Public Television's By the People Debate Week.
from The League: Reassembled
posted by The League: Reassembled at 4:13 PM
1 Comments:
Any recent polls on this race? I haven't seen any, and its been a while.
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