"and his name is more smilier too!" -My daughter, age 9, on the way home tonight.
I'm just back from the debate between Chris Carney and Don Sherwood. Sherwood is the incumbent Republican from the very red Pennsylvania 10th District, and a rubber stamp Republican with a suite of personal problems. (See my diary from May for a rundown with relevant links.)
I enjoyed the debate, and my daughter is right, Chris Carney has a lot to smile about!
The debate, held at Bucknell University and carried live on regional TV and radio, began after most of the audience of 450 had waited for an hour. The anticipation was palpable - most of us were there to see Chris (the only Rethug paraphalia I saw, in a sea of Carney buttons, was a woman with badly dyed hair wearing a Lynn Swann teeshirt), and we were excited about the momentum he carried into tonight, with two recent independent polls showing him in the lead by 7 to 9 points. The campaign has heated up recently. Chris hit the TV airwaves first a few weeks ago with a
smart ad highlighting his code of conduct as a Naval Reserve Officer. This ad quoted Chris's naval committment to "not lie,
cheat or steal," with the words scrolling across the screen. This was a not-so-subtle reference to Sherwood's long running
extra-marital affair that all here in the district would not miss. Since then, the references from both sides have become less subtle, though Chris has managed to develop a very postive image in the district.
As the lights went down and the candidates stood in the back of the hall, ready to approach the dais, I looked back and saw Don Sherwood. His face glowed white, reminding me of a full moon. He wore a forced smile, and frankly, looked like he'd rather be anywhere but there. I've got to give this guy some credit. If I had been publically humiliated as he has, I wouldn't show my face in public. But I reckon that he has some committments to keep, and that his owners would be quite upset if he didn't at least try.
Carney's bio was read, highlighting his military and EMT service, college degree in Environmental Studies and Political Science, his counter-terrorism work in the Pentagon, and his family values. As he strode down the aisle, the crowd erupted with cheers and applause. My hands still hurt even now, I clapped so hard! One enthusiastic fellow jumped out of his chair to give Chris a handshake. Sherwood got a short, polite smattering of claps.
Things went uphill from there for Chris. In his opening statement, looking relaxed an confident, he said that the district deserved to have "a representative we could be proud of," and added that "sadly we are not getting that with Mr. Sherwood." He told the story of one of his students (he is a professor at Penn State Scranton), who served in Iraq, who had to scrounge in Iraqi dumps to armor his Humvee. He pointed out that 1/3 of the households in the district have vets in them, and that Sherwood had voted against improving their benefits. He talked about touring the district and hearing from people who are scared about their health care. It was a three minute tour de force.
Sherwood, who sounds like a cross between Elmer Fudd and Jimmy Stewart, spent the evening trying to scare us about Islamic terrorists. When asked whether the $90 billions just approved for the war would not have been better spend in the district, he said, basically, that without spending this money, there would be no district left to take care of! Fear, fear, fear!
Carney never ceased highlighting his counter-terrorism work and his family. He came out strongly for a middle class tax cut (I'm not so sure about this personally), and accused Sherwood of cutting taxes for the very richest Americans in a time of war. It came off sounding like a charge of treason and war-profiteering.
Carney mentioned that he has been promised a seat on the Appropriations Committee (where Sherwood is now), implying that he could take care of the district like Sherwood has. When Sherwood responded to a question about jobs lost from our area to other countries, he talked about workers retraining. Carney responded forcefully that Sherwood had voted to cut $14 billion in college student financial aid.
When asked about abortion, Carney, who is pro-choice, said that he wanted to work toward a society where abortion was unecessary. He again mentioned his family, and said that he hates abortion, and supports adoption, and giving women the family planning resources they need. He stressed that the abortion issue is incredibly complex and personal without saying "I'm pro-choice." He walked a fine line here, since abortion is a big issue in our district. I think he carried it off well.
Finally Sherwood was asked about "the elephant in the room," his extra-marital affair, charges of assault, and the resulting lawsuit (settled for an undisclosed sum of money.) The old fart must not have a shred of human dignity left. It was a when-did-you-stop-beating-your-wife kind of moment. His answer was "I made a mistake. I've apologized," which is true. He did apologize in a TV spot aired yesterday, the timing of which Carney questioned. Sherwood said that Foley was right to resign because he broke the law, but that he himself had not broken the law. "I told voters if they would forgive me for that, I could represent them well. Voters must ask, who can best lead the 10th district?" I found myself wondering how it must have felt to answer phone calls from his wife for five years while lying in bed next to a woman half his age. That's not "a mistake." That's lie after lie after lie.
Carney turned around and pointed out that Hastert knew about Foley long ago, and asked if Sherwood would agree to uninvite Hastert from an upcoming fundraiser. No response from Sherwood on that one.
At any rate, it went on. Carney hammered Sherwood on the deficit, not helping his own hometown get federal relief after recent devestating floods, No Child Left Behind ("It's more like no child gets ahead",) and accepting $60k from big oil. "The chairman of Exxon Mobile made a $400 million bonus last year. Think of what that much money could do for the 10th district." Carney declared himself to be "green" and, while supporting FISA ("I've seen how important this law is to those of us who do counter-terrorism work"), very concerned about protecting the 4th Amendment.
In his closing statement, Carney looked us right in the eye and said that when he was considering running for congress, he promised his wife that he would never do anything to bring shame upon her or their five children. It was a powerful moment and its implications were not lost on the audience. Don Sherwood must have been dreaming of that long, long vacation he's going to be taking after Nov. 7. How can the guy stand there with his forced smile in the face of someone who is so right for our district at this difficult time? This was obvious to all in the room, even Mr. Sherwood, I'll wager.
At any rate, tonight reaffirmed what I've known since the day I met him: Chris Carney WILL be a representative we can be proud of!
UPDATE: Here is a link to the local newspaper, with video footage of the opening remarks now posted! Look below the headlines for the link.