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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Little common ground


Murray
 (The Spokesman-Review)

Democrat Patty Murray and Republican George Nethercutt argued Friday over everything from when to go to war in Iraq to who started the war of negative commercials for Washington’s U.S. Senate seat.

They argued over health care and Medicare, energy policy and tax policy, and who could better bind up the wounds of a fractured country after this hotly contested election.

About the only thing they agreed on during a one-hour debate in Spokane: Both are alums of Washington State University and proud to be Cougars.

As sign-waving supporters of each candidate gathered outside the KXLY-TV studios on Boone Avenue, Nethercutt and Murray traded one-minute shots on foreign and domestic policy at the debate sponsored by the station, Gonzaga University Law School and the League of Women Voters. One of their sharpest exchanges came after the candidates were asked about negative campaigning in general, and in their race in particular.

Each accused the other of being the first to “go negative.”

Nethercutt, who has a television commercial that features a photo of Osama bin Laden and a snippet of a comment Murray made about the terrorist leader, insisted his ads merely compare his record and Murray’s.

“I would dispute I’ve had any attack ads,” the Spokane congressman said. “I’ve questioned her judgment, I’ve never questioned her patriotism.”

Murray said she has commercials that talk about issues such as research and development tax credits, port security and education with people around the state.

“When I am attacked, I will fight for myself every time,” she said. One commercial calls Nethercutt’s bin Laden ad shameful, but she also has ads questioning whether he abandoned voters in his congressional district by renting an apartment in Bellevue, and questioning his truthfulness because he broke a 1994 pledge to serve only three terms in the House.

On tax policy, Murray criticized the Bush tax cuts – which she opposed and Nethercutt supported – as a barrier to helping bring people out of poverty with federal programs for the unemployed, and for education. At another point, she said the tax cuts jeopardize Social Security.

Nethercutt objected to her characterization of “massive tax cuts,” and said she had a record of raising taxes, not cutting them.

“Those dollars are the people’s dollars,” he said. “The best way to have a job in this country is to have a strong small business economy … that will hire people in need of a job.”

Murray later responded that she objected to the tax cuts for the upper income bracket, not for the middle class: “I support targeted tax cuts.”

On Iraq, Nethercutt said Murray made a mistake by voting against giving President Bush the authority to go to war to oust Saddam Hussein.

“By her vote, Saddam Hussein would still be in power today,” said Nethercutt, who voted for the Iraq war resolution. “There is no convenient time. She seems to want to wait until (the terrorists) are in our ports.”

Murray called Saddam “an evil tyrant” that the world is better off without, and said she voted against the resolution because the nation didn’t have a clear exit strategy. She added that she has voted for all funding for the military since the war and is concerned with recent reports that military leaders have asked for more troops and been denied.

Both were vague on when U.S. troops should be coming home from Iraq. Murray said that was hard to know because the country went in without a clear mission, but it must be committed to stay until order is restored under the theory of “you break it, you buy it.”

Nethercutt said he couldn’t give a specific time, but that the United States must stay until the Iraqis have a working government and a police force, and are able to provide for their own security.

While neither supports a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, the two candidates still disagreed on the topic. Nethercutt said he thinks the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which both candidates voted for, is constitutional but if an “activist judge” ruled otherwise he’d support an amendment.

Murray said she thinks marriage should be between a man and a woman, but that same-sex couples should have civil unions to assure them certain rights; the Constitution shouldn’t be amended to remove rights, only to assure them, she added.

On health care, Nethercutt repeated his criticism of Murray for voting against legislation that provides savings for senior citizens on prescription drugs and for not supporting limits on medical malpractice awards, which he called “the most important thing” to keep doctors from leaving Washington state.

Murray said the law with Medicare drug benefits didn’t have enough money for doctors who treat Medicare patients, and said the top priorities for improving health care are improving access, affordability and new research.

An energy bill that passed the House but is stalled in the Senate is a bipartisan proposal to cut the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, Nethercutt said. It’s not a long-term energy policy, said Murray, who quoted Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who labeled it the “no-lobbyist-left-behind bill.”

Several times during the debate, Nethercutt used portions of his one-minute response time to call for more televised matchups. The two candidates have only one more, next week in Seattle.

“There are very big differences between Senator Murray and me,” he said.

Murray said afterward she wouldn’t agree to more such meetings. She said she plans instead to meet with voters on the campaign trail and talk to them about their concerns.