Friday October 31, 2008
By: WMUR
From: WMUR
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- The candidates for U.S. Senate met in a sometimes-acerbic debate Thursday as they sought to sell themselves to voters days before the polls open.
Sen. John Sununu and former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen fought in 2002 for the Senate seat that Sununu won, and polls show them in a close rematch.
In the WMUR/Union-Leader debate, Shaheen, a Democrat, continued a theme present in many of her ads, trying to tie the Republican Sununu to President George W. Bush's policies. Sununu defended himself, saying that on key issues, he has opposed Bush and his party leadership.
"What we're seeing now is the failed policies of the Bush Administration," Shaheen said when discussing the economic crisis. "Policies my opponent has supported 90 percent of the time."
"Twice during my first term in the Senate, I led the opposition to my president on issues important to New Hampshire," Sununu said. "In 2003, I led the effort to defeat an energy bill because it increased spending and was bad for the environment.
"Sununu said that he also helped defeat version of the Patriot Act because he believed it did not provide enough protections for civil liberties.
The debate became somewhat heated at times, notably when the candidates were discussing the Employee Free Choice Act, which, among other things, would allow employees to cast public votes instead of secret ballot votes to authorize unions.
Shaheen said that she supports the act because it would give the choice to employees whether to use a secret ballot or an open vote, but Sununu said that the measure would open employees up to intimidation either from the union or from other employees.
While Sununu was talking about a New Hampshire version of the bill during his rebuttal, Shaheen made a comment that spurred Sununu to reply, "If I might have my 30 seconds."
Sununu also appeared to take exception to a question that began by playing a negative ad created by the Shaheen campaign, commenting, "I certainly hope that you're charging Jeanne Shaheen for the air time.
"A negative ad from the Sununu campaign was played to introduce the next question in the debate.
Shaheen seemed flustered at one point in the debate when Sununu asked her to name an issue where she voted against her party's leadership. Shaheen brought up a proposal from President Bill Clinton that would have allowed roadless forest areas to be used for logging.
Although Shaheen said she spoke out against Clinton and sent a letter, she hesitated several times during her answer.
But for most of the debate, the candidates stayed on message, sticking to the tone of their campaigns.
On the economic bailout plan, Sununu said that the plan was necessary, but he was concerned about early versions of it that didn't provide enough oversight and protection for taxpayers.
"We added taxpayer protections, oversight, limits on executive compensation," Sununu said. "And gains made in the program will go to pay down debt.
"Shaheen said that she remains opposed to the bailout because, she said, it still doesn't go far enough to solve the basic problems.
"It didn't address the fundamental overall problem, that is, lax oversight of Wall Street," Shaheen said. "Unfortunately, what we've seen is no controls on executive compensation, which was an issue that has not been addressed.
"Shaheen said that she would support Sen. Barack Obama's tax plan because she believes it will help middle-class families.
"Middle-class families and small businesses are really struggling in this economy," Shaheen said. "I think we need a tax policy that helps middle-class families and small businesses.That's what Obama's tax policies are designed to do, and that's what I support.
"In response to a Shaheen question criticizing Sununu for voting against raising the minimum wage, Sununu said that he actually had voted for wage increases, but onlt when the bill was a solid measure that was also good for business.
"We were finally able to put together a good, bipartisan package," Sununu said. "It was good for small businesses and increased wages.
"The candidates also took each other to task over Social Security. After watching clips of their answers during a 2002 WMUR debate on the issue of Social Security solvency, both said their positions were unchanged.
"Social Security has been one of the most effective programs keeping seniors out of poverty," Shaheen said. "Where would seniors be if their retirement had been in the stock market these past few months?
"Shaheen said that Sununu has called for privatizing Social Security, but Sununu said that he wants to give younger workers options to put some of their savings in private accounts.
"Anyone who looks at this situation understands that as baby boomers retire, it creates a huge unfounded liability in Social Security," Sununu said. "I'm still committed that the system doesn't change for anyone who retires today or anyone who retires in the next 15 years.
"Shaheen said that allowing Social Security withholdings to be placed in personal accounts would be "gambling" with their retirement, a phrase Sununu took exception to. But Shaheen said recent stock market volatility demonstrates the risk of allowing those funds to be invested.
The latest WMUR tracking poll shows Shaheen leading Sununu by 3 points, with 10 percent of likely voters undecided and a 3.9 percent margin of error, making this one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the country.
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