Articles of Interest 10-16-06
22 Days to Victory!!!
Broken Promises Calendar: No Results from Governor Granholm
PROMISE: “Give districts flexibility in raising operating millages.” (Detroit News, 7/29/02)
RESULT: No result. For once, we’re glad that she didn’t follow through on a promise. The last thing Michigan needs is higher property taxes.
I had the opportunity to watch the debate between Mike Bouchard and Debbie Stabenow. Bouchard in person and then again on PBS last night….Mike did an awesome job.
Mike was strong, decisive and drew a clear contrast between himself and Debbie Stabenow. Mike nailed her on immigration, taxes and for being an ineffective member of the Senate.
Bouchard held Debbie Stabenow to her record of doing nothing for the people of Michigan since she became senator six years ago. He called out Stabenow for neglecting the issues that affect the people in this state everyday. Bouchard highlighted Stabenow's tax and spend policies and, vote to give amnesty to illegal immigrants, vote against funding additional border guards, vote against funding a fence along the southern border and her vote to kill an amendment that would stop illegal immigrants from stealing Social Security benefits. Stabenow offered the same stale approach and blamed her problems on others.
There is a great contrast between these candidates, and we encourage you to watch the debate. It was on your local PBS station. To find one near you…and to check for a taped version on the internet follow this link:
The one thing Governor Granholm has plenty of is plans. She has a plan for just about everything and all those plans have one thing in common…they are NOT working. To see her latest collect with a little clever satire go to:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2006/10/granholm_more_o.html
Dick DeVos delivered a great speech to the Detroit Economics Club. To watch the video clip of Dick’s speech...please go to:
http://www.wzzm13.com/video/video_player_1.aspx?aid=10547&sid=63096&bw
Dick DeVos picked up the endorsement of THREE major newspapers yesterday. The Grand Rapids Press, Detroit News and The Oakland Press each had great editorials about why Dick DeVos is the right person to help turn Michigan around. I attached those clips separately in this text below:
Grand Rapids Press
Dick DeVos, for a new direction
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1160894294277160.xml&coll=6
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Detroit News
DeVos has right plan for fixing Michigan
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061015/OPINION01/610150302/1008
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The Oakland Press
GUBERNATORIAL ENDORSEMENT
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/101506/opi_2006101534.shtml
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YouTube has a new video and delivers a powerful message:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCseJT_rYWY
Only 540 hours left until the polls close. Victory Centers are in full swing and we need your help. Please join us and do what you can to help turn Michigan around!
Thanks again for all you do!
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
U.S. Sen. Stabenow, challenger Bouchard square off in debate
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Republican U.S. Senate challenger Mike Bouchard, trailing in polls, got aggressive with incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow during their first debate Sunday.
Stabenow fired right back in a rare joint appearance less than a month before the Nov. 7 election.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/NEWS05/610160335/1007
BRIAN DICKERSON: With time running out, DeVos regains his feet
It's hard to pinpoint, except in hindsight, when a hard-fought political contest turns decisively in favor of one candidate.
But if Dick DeVos defies the oddsmakers and ekes out a victory in the Nov. 7 election, last Thursday will likely emerge as the crucial turning point in his marathon campaign for governor.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/NEWS02/610160420/1004
ELECTION 2006: Bouchard accuses Stabenow of inaction
Senate challenger takes offensive in debate; she says he lacks ideas
GRAND RAPIDS -- The only televised-statewide debate between U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Republican challenger Mike Bouchard was a slugfest from start to finish. It aired on public television Sunday night.
"The current senator hasn't been doing the job," Bouchard, the Oakland County sheriff, said in his opening remarks. "If I come back after six years having only named a federal building, you should fire me."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/NEWS02/610160451/1004
HOUSE ELECTIONS: Past act may cost new rep his job
In what would be an extraordinary move, the leader of the Michigan House of Representatives says he will seek to prevent an incoming state representative from taking office in January because of his role in a 1993 armed robbery.
Democrat Bert Johnson, 32, has no opponent in the November election for the 5th District seat that includes Hamtramck, Highland Park and a portion of Detroit. He won a 12-candidate primary for the Democratic nomination in August.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/NEWS04/610160373/1006
Sabaugh says Land opposes tracking absentee ballots
With the election just over three weeks away, Democratic Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh isn't pulling any punches in her quest to unseat GOP Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land.
Sabaugh is charging that Land denied her access to the state's qualified voter file after previously turning over the password in September. Sabaugh wanted to use the file to create an online system that Macomb County absentee voters could use to track their ballots.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/OPINION01/610160305/1069
WAYNE COUNTY DISTRICTS: State House
Wayne County has just a handful of real contests for state House seats in the Nov. 7 election, the August primary having determined the outcome in most of the county's 23 House districts.
In Detroit, for example, the Democratic primary winners who will amble, deservedly, to victory in the face of nominal or nonexistent opposition include MARSHA CHEEKS, 50, in District 6; VIRGIL SMITH, 26, in District 7; MORRIS HOOD III, 41, in District 11, and STEVE TOBOCMAN, 36, in District 12, all endorsed by the Free Press.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/NEWS05/610160321/1007
Politically Speaking
William Morelli, a Republican candidate for the Macomb County Board of Commissioners, tells voters in a flyer that the Free Press said he has "the best handle on the issues."
Wait a second ... the newspaper's editorial page endorsed his opponent, Democrat Kathleen Tocco.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/NEWS05/610160354/1007
FIVE THINGS: About the most Americans
In a day, you'll be one in 300 million.
THE BIG POP
Tuesday at 7:46 a.m., the U.S. Census Bureau says, the country's population will total 300,000,000. And the rate of growth is growing.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/POLITICS01/610160345
Mark Hornbeck and Charlie Cain:
Granholm, DeVos spar over crime
Gubernatorial race shows stark difference in plans to reduce violence, rein in soaring prison costs.
Violent crime is up.
The number of cops on Michigan streets is down.
And a series of high-profile crimes seized recent headlines, including the grisly slaying of three people by Patrick Selepak, a mistakenly released convict, and the heart-wrenching murder of 7-year-old Ricky Holland of Williamston, allegedly by his adoptive parents.
3rd debate could help seal the deal with voters as Nov. 7 nears
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- With only three weeks to go before the election, Monday's third and final gubernatorial debate could be the candidates' best chance to nail down votes in the waning days of the campaign.
Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her Republican rival, Dick DeVos, have used the two previous debates to jab at each other and explain why they would be the best choice to lead Michigan.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/OPINION01/610160314/1008
Return Weiser, Turner to state ed board
Incumbents have good records on demanding improved schools
M ichigan voters will help guide the direction of state education on Nov. 7 through the election of the state Board of Education. The board oversees teacher licensing and the state superintendent's performance; sets the pass scores for Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP); and provides overall leadership on K-12 schools and, to a nominal degree, Michigan's colleges and universities.
Among the candidates, Eileen Weiser stands out for her depth of knowledge of the state's top education issues and her previous performance. Increasing student achievement -- especially among at-risk children -- is her top priority. "We know what works," she argues: good principals with the autonomy to retain qualified staff, aligned to a common educational philosophy; high-quality curriculum; and strong instructional strategies. We support her approach.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/OPINION03/610160323/1322/AUTO04
Daniel Howes:
Affirmative action ban stifles state powerbrokers
It's not often that Michigan's powerbrokers find themselves in a hole, scrambling for money and influence, but that's exactly where they are in their bid to defeat the affirmative action ban on next month's ballot.
Polls show them losing the initiative, which would amend the state constitution to ban race and gender preferences for admission to state-financed colleges and universities, for public hiring and public contracting. It also would send a message that Michigan isn't open for 21st-century business when it most needs to be.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/OPINION03/610160309/1272
Deb Price:
Gay closet doors open wide, research finds
C alifornia researcher Gary Gates has been hearing things lately:
Lots of closet doors opening like never before -- and in places where most gay folks five years ago were too wary of government census takers to acknowledge being in a same-sex relationship.
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1160911206254120.xml&coll=5
Hot-button issue, no common ground
possible ban on affirmative action isn't about academic analysis or legal theory, but raw emotion for people such as Miguel Velasquez-Hernandez, 18, of Flint.
"I still don't feel equal," said Velasquez-Hernandez, who is Hispanic. "Without affirmative action, the American dream isn't even reachable for some."
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1160911219254120.xml&coll=5
Affirmative action
Affirmative action debate
Proposal 2 would amend the state constitution to ban affirmative action. If you're still undecided, you can hear top experts from both sides debate affirmative action and the effect of Proposal 2 at a forum this week:
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-32/1160955303314780.xml&coll=6
Stabenow, Bouchard debate over Michigan jobs
GRAND RAPIDS -- U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow repeatedly turned the focus of her debate with Republican challenger Mike Bouchard to one topic: jobs.
That was fine with Bouchard, who painted the Democratic incumbent as ineffective in Washington when Michigan residents needed someone who would fight to boost the state's sagging economy.
Senate hopefuls point fingers
Iraq and Social Security among top issues in debate
GRAND RAPIDS -- U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and her Republican challenger, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, met in their only scheduled televised debate Sunday, exchanging sharp accusations on Iraq, Social Security and other national and international issues.
Bouchard repeated his charge that Stabenow has done little during her first six-year Senate term. She, in turn, linked him to President Bush, whose approval ratings are low in Michigan.
Michigan incumbents' coffers brim
Congressional delegation enjoys healthy campaign finances as foes' fundraising lags.
WASHINGTON -- While political insiders are predicting Democrats have a strong chance of taking control of the U.S. House in three weeks, challengers in Michigan's 15 House races have had no luck raising the kind of money commonly needed to beat incumbents.
Democrat Nancy Skinner, who is trying to unseat seven-term U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Hills, raised only $98,769 from July 20 through Sept. 30, according to the latest campaign filings that were due Sunday at the Federal Election Commission.
National Stories
In Final Weeks, G.O.P. Focuses on Best Bets
WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 — Senior Republican leaders have concluded that Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, a pivotal state in this year’s fierce midterm election battles, is likely to be heading for defeat and are moving to reduce financial support for his race and divert party money to other embattled Republican senators, party officials said.
The decision to effectively write off Mr. DeWine’s seat, after a series of internal Republican polls showed him falling behind his Democratic challenger, is part of a fluid series of choices by top leaders in both parties as they set the strategic framework of the campaign’s final three weeks, signaling, by where they are spending television money and other resources, the Senate and House races where they believe they have the best chances of success.
How the Economy Can Define an Election
LANSING, Mich. -- Economic anxiety hangs heavy over the midterm elections in this cradle of the American auto industry.
That has meant trouble for the re-election campaign of Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Her response: flexing the power of incumbency and mounting a minibailout of the Big Three, along with other companies in the state, as Washington stands by.
HILL'S SO SORRY OVER 'VIET' SLAP
APOLOGIZES FOR AIDE'S MCCAIN RAP
October 15, 2006 -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton called John McCain yesterday to personally apologize and denounce comments an adviser of hers reportedly made slamming the GOP senator over his time in captivity in Vietnam.
The move from one potential 2008 presidential candidate to another was sparked by a column in The New York Times, in which Maureen Dowd quoted an anonymous adviser talking about McCain's criticism of the Clintons over their North Korea position.
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-MIElec06-1004.html?printVersion=true
Motors and Voters: Michigan's Gubernatorial Race
MICHIGAN'S STRUGGLING auto industry is weighing on the state's economy and contributing to its 7.1% August unemployment rate, which tied for tops in the country. It's also a key issue in Michigan's gubernatorial race. — Data compiled by Matt Phillips and Mali Fleming
(Click link to see graphs)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/weekinreview/15kirk.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Voters’ Allegiances, Ripe for the Picking
IN May 1980, the pollster Richard Wirthlin huddled with his presidential candidate, Ronald Reagan, to plot a course through what looked like a daunting landscape for their party. Just over half the country told pollsters that they were Democrats or leaned that way, compared with just 30 percent that said they were Republicans — a gap that had held steady more or less since the New Deal.
The rest is political history. By winning over millions of white working-class Democrats, Mr. Reagan cut that gap in half and ushered in 26 years of Republican dominance at the voting booth.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/10/15/scalia.aclu.ap/index.html
Scalia says Constitution silent on abortion, race in school
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Justice Antonin Scalia on Sunday defended some of his Supreme Court opinions, arguing that nothing in the Constitution supports abortion rights and the use of race in school admissions.
Scalia, a leading conservative voice on the high court, sparred in a one-hour televised debate with American Civil Liberties Union president Nadine Strossen. He said unelected judges have no place deciding politically charged questions when the Constitution is silent on those issues.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/16/opinion/16sweeney.html
Running With Blinders
Berkeley, Calif.
AT this point in the fall campaign, unabashed negativity clogs every media outlet. The stench of foul political advertising is everywhere, and one senses that little will change: Americans once again will hold their noses and vote.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/16/opinion/16mon1.html
Faith-Based Profits
Mary Rosati, a novice training to be a nun in Toledo, Ohio, says that after she received a diagnosis of breast cancer, her mother superior dismissed her. If Ms. Rosati had had a nonreligious job, she might have won a lawsuit against her diocese (which denies the charge). But a federal judge dismissed her suit under the Americans With Disabilities Act, declining to second-guess the church’s “ecclesiastical decision.”
Ms. Rosati’s story is one of many that Diana Henriques told in a recent Times series examining the fast-changing legal status of churches and religious-affiliated institutions. The series showed that the wall between church and state is being replaced by a platform that raises religious organizations to a higher legal plane than their secular counterparts.
http://www.humanevents.com/lists.php?id=17542
Top 10 Most Vulnerable Democratic Incumbents Up in '06
10. Rep. John Barrow (Ga.)
Former GOP Rep. Max Burns is in a heavily watched rematch with narrow ’04 winner Barrow.
9. Rep. John Spratt (S.C.)
After 24 years and some recent close shaves, Spratt could go down in the 5th District to well-financed conservative State Rep. Ralph Norman.
8. Sen. Maria Cantwell (Wash.)
Photo-finish winner of her first term in 2000, Cantwell is locked in a close race with Republican businessman Mike McGavick.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=17534
Charlie Rangel: The Man Who Would Write Our Tax Laws
Rep. Charlie Rangel (D.-N.Y.), who at 76 years of age is the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, has made clear that for him the November elections are winner take all.
If the Democrats lose, he will retire from the Congress. If they win, he will take the chairmanship of his committee and begin rewriting the nation’s tax laws so that they conform to his and his party’s left-wing, redistributionist point of view.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-santorum16oct16,0,894713.story?coll=la-home-headlines
GOP on a Mission to Save Santorum
ROSYLN, Pa. — Keith Hollenberg, a member of the evangelical Assemblies of God church, is worried that one of his political heroes is about to lose his bid for reelection.
So when he saw Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) at a car show here, Hollenberg volunteered to help in what has become an urgent project for social conservatives in Pennsylvania and around the country: keeping Santorum in the Senate.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009098
Great Leadership
What I saw in North Korea.
Despite the much-touted label of being the most secretive nation in the world, the one thing everyone knows about North Korea is that its people have been dying in massive numbers from starvation and persecution for decades, the reality of which seems to have bypassed the nations involved in the on-again-off-again six-party talks--whose diplomacy has apparently failed. By landing a punch at the nonproliferation policy of the U.N. Security Council, an organization soon to be led by South Korean Ban Ki Moon, North Korea yet again thwarted its former promises of stopping all nuclear activities. The Bush administration is advocating harsher ways of punishing a country they maintain is a member of the "axis of evil" through tougher sanctions and cutting off its financial sources, neither of which has worked so far in stopping North Korea from doing whatever it wants to do. Now that it claims to have become the world's ninth nuclear power, I wonder what will change, if anything, for its people.
On June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea, my mother's brother, then age 18 and living in Seoul, was kidnapped by the North's soldiers. Fleeing the bombs, my grandmother, with her five children, fought through the panicked crowd onto the jam-packed, southbound train when someone screamed out that young men should give up their seats for women and children. My grandmother spent her remaining life haunted by that last moment, of her eldest son rising and reassuring her that he would be on the next train. Hers turned out to be the last train out of Seoul. Later, a neighbor reported seeing him tied up and being dragged away by the North Korean soldiers. Korean Confucian ethics holds that there is no bigger sin than abandoning one's family, and yet neither Korean government has granted reunions for the millions of separated families, except for a handful who have been used as a showcase for the failed peace summits.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110009099
Taking the Initiative
How judges threaten direct democracy.
Government officials pay homage to democracy, but this election year some are actively trying to undermine it. While the 79 citizen-sponsored initiatives that will be voted on this year is up 25% from 2004, courts have become increasingly aggressive in throwing them off the ballot, often for dubious reasons. In addition, there are accusations that unions and other groups have employed tough-guy measures to block some proposals from consideration.
Direct democracy in the 24 states that allow it often makes government function when arrogant, self-absorbed legislatures are gridlocked. Voters in several states have imposed term limits and curbed bilingual education and racial quotas, hot-button issues legislators often shrink from tackling. Liberals have used initiatives to pass minimum-wage hikes and tobacco taxes that were often blocked by legislatures where powerful lobbyists hold sway.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1016/p01s02-uspo.html
GOP strategies for blue-state victories
The trend lines in competitive House and Senate races cannot be cheering to Republicans in these midterm elections. Seats that initially had been colored bright red in the Republican column have turned a paler shade of rose, and contests that first had tilted GOP are now either toss-ups or tinted blue.
But against this daunting backdrop, a few Republican candidates are staying competitive in places where registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans. How? By showing an independent streak.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1016/p02s01-uspo.html
Maryland underdog runs from GOP agenda
HAGERSTOWN, MD. – Running in a state where Democrats outnumber Republican voters nearly 2 to 1, GOP Senate hopeful Michael Steele enlisted a puppy to boost his campaign as a "different kind of politician."
With a chirpy tone more typical of a cellphone ad than a political spot, Maryland's lieutenant governor pops up on the screen: "Hey, me again, Michael Steele."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101501096.html
Hastert's Team Mentality to Be Tested as Foley Scandal Unfolds
On a table near the desk of the speaker of the House, nine bears sit in a wooden rowboat, eight with oars and one in charge. But the boat can't move unless the oars all row in the same direction. That's why House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) bought it.
Ever since an odd combination of scandal and turmoil catapulted Hastert into the speaker's job in 1999, the beefy former wrestling coach -- who's a bit bearlike himself -- has pushed House Republicans to work as a team. And he's had remarkable success. Largely unknown outside Washington, routinely underestimated as a powerless figurehead inside Washington, the accidental speaker has helped unify his fractious caucus, promote President Bush's agenda and expand the House's GOP majority.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101500840.html
Clinton's Iowa Visit May Serve Wife's Aims
DES MOINES, Oct. 15 -- Former president Bill Clinton entered the Hy-Vee Hall here on Saturday night like an aging rock star, striding up a red carpet, wearing a big smile, his arms outstretched to touch the hands of Democratic admirers lined up along his walkway to the stage.
Clinton came to rally Democrats three weeks before critical midterm elections. But his visit may have served another purpose as well. Alone among prospective Democratic presidential candidates for 2008, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) has not set foot in the state all year, and the futures market in Clinton political stock here has been suffering.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20061016-012558-8447r.htm
Minuteman committee aids GOP
A political action committee created by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, whose financial accountability has been challenged by MCDC members, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to support Republican candidates -- much of it through private companies with ties to conservative activist Alan Keyes.
Claiming access to 500,000 households nationwide, the Minuteman PAC has pledged to do what it can financially to help elect "committed and principled conservative leaders" -- citing as examples MCDC President Chris Simcox and Mr. Keyes.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20061016-122855-5508r.htm
U.S. expects China to lead on sanctions
Top U.S. diplomats yesterday said they expected China to enforce sanctions unanimously passed by the U.N. Security Council to curtail North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons.
In an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said China, which shares an 880-mile border with North Korea and is Pyongyang's principal trading partner, would shoulder the major responsibility of stopping trade with the isolated communist state. Without China's cooperation on enforcement, sanctions likely would be ineffective.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/16/world/asia/16afghan.html
Afghan Attack Brings Total of Canadians Killed to 42
KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 15 — Two Canadian soldiers in the NATO force were killed and three were wounded in an ambush in southern Afghanistan on Saturday afternoon, and an Afghan provincial council member was assassinated Sunday on his way to work, officials said.
In other violence, an Italian photojournalist was reported to have been kidnapped by gunmen in southern Afghanistan. Two policemen were killed in a raid on Afghanistan’s eastern border with Pakistan, and two civilians died in a roadside bomb explosion that was apparently intended for a Westerner’s vehicle that was passing by, news agencies reported.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/10/15/iraq.main/index.html
Iraqi insurgent group invites negotiation
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- One of Iraq's most visible insurgent groups is reiterating its interest in negotiating with U.S. forces.
CNN obtained the professionally produced videotaped message Sunday. In it, the speaker -- whose face is obscured -- offers a set of conditions for what he says could lead to an end to the group's ongoing insurgency and peace with U.S. occupation forces.
Gongwer News Service, Inc.
Larry Lee 517-482-3500
Volume #45, Report #198, Article #01 --Sunday, October 15, 2006 |
STABENOW/BOUCHARD FACE OFF IN DEBATE |
GRAND RAPIDS - Squaring off in the first of two scheduled debates, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (R-Lansing) said her Republican opponent, Oakland Sheriff Michael Bouchard, was allied with the "failed policies" of President George W. Bush and Mr. Bouchard said repeatedly Ms. Stabenow was a "nice person" who had failed to deliver results to the state. Juggling questions on the Iraqi war, Social Security, Medicare, global warming and the North American Free Trade Agreement, the two candidates also spent the hour rebutting and challenging each other over the various assertions they have made the during the campaign. At one point Mr. Bouchard said Ms. Stabenow should return all campaign contributions received from the Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid of Nevada until questions surrounding his land sale were answered. Ms. Stabenow said Mr. Bouchard should return all campaign donations generated by the visits of Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney until they backed policies that would stop exporting jobs. The debate, taped Sunday morning at WGVU-Grand Rapids and broadcast statewide Sunday night over Michigan public television stations, also came out on a day when a public opinion poll showed Ms. Stabenow with a 13-percentage point lead over Mr. Bouchard. Predictably, after the debate both sides claimed victory. "My opponent didn't have one specific on how he would create jobs," Ms. Stabenow said to reporters. And Mr. Bouchard repeated to reporters that Ms. Stabenow "is a nice person, but this is about more than being nice." But Mr. Bouchard also called for more debates between the two. The only other scheduled debate is set before the Detroit Economic Club on Wednesday. During the 2000 campaign between Ms. Stabenow and then U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham there was one debate, again broadcast from WGVU but using a format that had undecided voters asking the questions. (That year, Ms. Stabenow also called for more debates.) In Sunday's debate the two took questions from a panel of four west Michigan journalists. And the questions focused on many aspects that have been largely missing in the campaign thus far. For example, the Iraq war, which was the first question asked and put to Mr. Bouchard. Asked if he would support a pre-emptive war against another nation when there was no firm evidence of a threat, Mr. Bouchard said the U.S. must deal with any imminent threat and deciding whether a threat was imminent meant relying on clear intelligence. He then accused Ms. Stabenow of voting to cut intelligence funding, but his answer did not state if he would have voted for the authorization for the Iraq war. Ms. Stabenow said she did not vote for the Iraq war because the case was not made for the attack. She did support the war in Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of 2001 as justifiable, and said the failure to find and crack the leadership of Al Qaeda since that invasion was astonishing. She also said she had supported every defense budget, every authorization for troop equipment for U.S. forces, and said that the U.S. had to make it plain to Iraq that it needed to get its troops trained and put them forward to relieve the U.S. military. Mr. Bouchard said a "benchmarked" system had to be developed to establish a framework for removing U.S. troops from the Middle East. The issue came back in a question on whether they thought the U.S. would face another terrorist attack. Ms. Stabenow said as long the U.S. does not implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission it remains vulnerable. Mr. Bouchard, who wore a sheriff's badge lapel pin during the debate, said spending on the Department of Homeland Security had become another pork barrel opportunity for Congress and that someone with practical law enforcement experience had to come to the Senate to rectify the priorities. That lead to one of the few "gotcha" moments in the debate, when Ms. Stabenow said Mr. Bouchard had sent her a letter - copies of which were quickly handed to reporters - thanking her for her efforts to help win homeland security funding for Oakland County and asking her to help get the county more money. Several times the two sparred over votes Ms. Stabenow had made on border security and whether she had supported Social Security benefits for illegal immigrants, all the while with their press people rushed between reporters dropping releases with position points. On other points:
In some respects the most interesting question came when a reporter asked both candidates to praise something about the other. Ms. Stabenow said Mr. Bouchard had done a wonderful job raising his children, and praised his daughter Mikayla's poise. Mr. Bouchard said Ms. Stabenow genuinely wanted to make the state better but had failed to deliver results. LATEST POLL RESULTS: In a poll published Sunday in the Detroit Free Press, Ms. Stabenow was favored by 48 percent of those questioned. Mr. Bouchard was supported by 35 percent. While a large lead, one analyst said the seat is still in play because Ms. Stabenow had not yet cracked 50 percent in support. The survey was conducted of 643 voters from October 8 -11 by Selzer & Company of Des Moines, Iowa. It has a margin of error of 3.9 percent. NEW STABENOW AD: In her latest ad to hit television, Ms. Stabenow refutes charges made by Mr. Bouchard in his latest ad, and hits back on her own by saying he took hundreds of thousands of dollars as a director of Jackson National Life which had outsourced jobs. In the debate that charge was repeated by her and repeatedly denied by Mr. Bouchard. |
Volume #45, Report #198, Article #04 --Sunday, October 15, 2006 |