Dems Debate for 3rd Congressional Seat

Last night Democratic candidates vying for the 3^rd Congressional District seat debated at an event hosted by the GVSU Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies. An estimated crowd of about 150 came out to hear Paul Mayhue and Patrick Miles Jr. respond to questions from the audience.

The format was traditional in that candidates each had 2 minutes to respond to questions and no rebuttal time. This format generally means that candidates give vague answers to complex issues, but it doesn’t preclude candidates from directing people to more substantive analysis. Unfortunately, neither candidate seemed interested in substantive debate, which is reflected on the issue page of their respective websites and neither of the candidates referred to sources for members of the audience who were yearning for information that would provide detailed analysis or concrete strategies for change.

Miles came across as a moderate with an emphasis on his support for small business and economic development. The only statement he made that seemed to move the crowd was when he proposed that members of Congress take a 5% pay cut every year that they don’t balance the budget. This is a nice sentiment, but not likely to happen when Washington politics is driven by the acquisition of money.

Mayhue presented himself as an advocate and says that the main issue he has heard from people is the lack of jobs. Mayhue says that the country is plagued by corporate greed, exemplified by trade policies such as NAFTA, but the Democratic candidate offer no clear examples of how corporate greed is manifested nor how NAFTA has been bad for Michigan. He could have cited two excellent studies that provide details on the real impact on jobs loss by NAFTA, one report from Jobs with Justice and the other from the Economic Policy Institute.

When asked about whether or not they supported Arizona’s new immigration policy and their thoughts on immigration policy for the country as a whole Mayhue responded by saying that the legislation is decent, but that he has a problem with how the Arizona authorities will use reasonable suspicion to stop anyone they think might be undocumented. Miles did acknowledge that the federal Immigration policy over the last generation hasn’t worked well and that the Arizona law will not stand constitutionally, but he avoided saying whether or not he supported Arizona’s decision. He did say that if people were willing to go the legal route, learn English and get in line then he is in favor of people coming to the US.

Another question asked the candidates how their economic philosophy differs or is the same as the President’s. Mayhue says he supports the President’s economic plan, particularly the “reform package” for Wall Street, even Democratic Senator Russ Feingold and other critics charge that the reforms are only cosmetic in nature.  Miles said he was concerned about the influence of Wall Street and thinks that deregulation was part of the problem that led to the 2008 economic crash.

The moderator followed up by stating that Congressman Ehlers voted for the bailout (Troubled Asset Relief Program TARP) and wanted to know how the candidates would have voted were they in Congress in 2008. Miles responded by saying that there were oversight and deregulation issues, but the bailout was a bipartisan effort to save the economy. Mayhue said he most likely would have voted for the bailout but would have fought for “rules.”

The next question asked where the candidates stood regarding the current US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mayhue said he concurs with the administration and then said he wants to end the wars, which seemed like clear contradictions. Mayhue seemed to perpetuate this notion that Obama was anti-war and was working hard to phase the US out of these wars. The fact is that the President has escalated the US war in Afghanistan and there is no indication that Obama plans to withdraw most of the US troops from Iraq by August, a promise he made during the 2008 campaign and one that has been repeated since taking office.

Mayhue did say that he had issues with the cost of the wars and would rather see that money being spent in our communities. Mayhue could have made his case stronger if he cited the data from the National Priorities Project on the cost of the war to Grand Rapids, which as of today stands at $534 million and counting.

Miles reiterated the White House position that the mission in Afghanistan was to go after the Taliban and Osama bin Laden/al Qaeda, even though no serious military analyst in Washington believes that al Qaeda has any significant presence in Afghanistan. Miles also thought there could be more of an internationalization of the war, utilizing more NATO troops and fewer US. However, this ignores the fact that there is growing anti-war sentiment around the world and pressure for NATO countries to diminish their troops levels or pull out completely.

Asked what are the other major international issues the candidates would pay attention to, Miles said China, North Korea, Pakistan, and the Middle East. Mayhue said that terrorism is the most important international issue and that he agrees with Gates to retool the army to fight terrorism. Mayhue went on to refer to show bombers and other incidents of terrorism on US soil. He didn’t know how to deal with terrorism, but suggested maybe covert actions.

Listening to both candidates on their foreign policy positions was instructive. It seemed that neither of them had much of an understanding of foreign policy matters. Neither of them acknowledged the role the US plays in determining the policies of the WTO, World Bank or International Monetary Fund. Neither of them acknowledged the US military presence in virtually every country around the world nor the massive amounts of military aid or weapons sales, which dwarfs all other countries combined.

When asked what the candidates had to say about the BP oil disaster and the country’s energy future neither candidate had much to say. Both Mayhue and Miles felt that the BP oil disaster was due to lack of regulatory oversight and taking proper precautions. Mayhue said that we have to divorce ourselves from oil and create new energy and says that the new battery factory in Holland is a good example of the route we need to take. Miles also said we need to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. However, saying we need to reduce our dependency on foreign oil does not mean we reduce our dependency on oil. Neither candidate mentioned the problem of off shore drilling, coal mining and coal powered electricity and the effort to stop new coal power plants in Michigan.

Miles said he supported windmills in Lake Michigan, but Mayhe said he had concerns about what impact the windmills would have on the ecology of the Lake. Miles said that windmills and solar panels should be manufactured here, but neither candidate suggested that America needs to reduce levels of energy consumption.

When asked about Cap and Trade as a way of dealing with global warming, both candidates said they would support such a measure. However, there is plenty of good analysis that exposes the huge flaws in the Carbon trading system. A few good sources are Source Watch and Annie Leonard’s animated video called the Story of Cap and Trade.

The candidates also addressed No Child Left Behind, Bush era tax cuts and the Obama health care plan, but neither candidate really distinguished themselves on these issues. In fact, I left the debate feeling like neither candidate seemed very strong on issues, which seems to be somewhat irrelevant in electoral politics these days.

Several local Democratic insiders I talked to all acknowledged that Miles is the candidate that the Party is backing, which is evident based on the amount of money both candidates have raised to date. According to Open Secrets, Miles has raised over $318,000 to just under $10,000 for Mayhue.

There was little local news coverage of the debate, with the WZZM story providing just the Democratic candidates position wind mills in Lake Michigan and the Grand Rapids Press story is a paltry summary of the 1 hour debate. The debate was filmed and will be shown on WGVU, channel 35 tonight (Friday, July 23) at 9:30pm.