This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 16, 2012 - Three contenders for Illinois’ 12th Congressional District seat sparred Wednesday at a debate in Carbondale, the first in-person clash between candidates angling to replace U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello.
Republican nominee Jason Plummer, Democratic nominee William Enyart and Green Party candidate Paula Bradshaw took part in the first 12th District debate. Plummer and Enyart are engaged in a nationally watched battle to succeed Costello, a Belleville Democrat who is not running for re-election. The 12th District encompasses portions of the Metro East and part of southern Illinois.
After opening statements, the candidates were asked whether they were in favor of repealing the federal health care bill. Bradshaw said she was opposed to the measure, arguing instead that Congress should have put forward a universal health care system. Plummer also said he was in favor of repealing the law.
"It’s important that you send people to Washington who will get rid of this program, but also bring ideas to the table that to make sure we ensure quality health care and access to health care for all people," Plummer said. "The costs of health care have gone through the roof, and we need policies that are going to bring costs down while maintaining access to all Americans."
While he said the legislation wasn’t perfect, Enyart said many people he’s spoken with while campaigning are supportive of some elements of the law.
"Everyone that I’ve talked to in this district supports being able to keep your child on until age 26 on your own health care plan," Enyart said. "That helped me. I can put my 24-year-old son on my health care. They support the end of pre-existing conditions. They support the end to medical caps, the limits on medical costs.
"Now are there problems with it? Of course there are problems with it," he added. "Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let’s change the things that are problems and move on."
The candidates were later asked to rate President Barack Obama’s performance in his first term as chief executive. Enyart gave the Illinois native "a good solid B," adding that the president inherited a tenuous economic situation.
"When the president took office, this economic was losing 750,000 jobs a month. Last month, the economy gained 120,000 jobs," Enyart said. "That’s not perfect. That’s not an A. That’s not an A+. But it’s certainly worthy of a B. He’s turned around the 750,000 job loss to 120,000 job gain."
Both Bradshaw and Plummer gave Obama a "D." Plummer in particular said that Obama had failed to deliver on many of the promises put forward during his 2008 campaign.
"Under this administration, we’ve seen things get worse," Plummer said. "We’ve seen things get worse economically as our unemployment rate continues to go up. We’ve seen things get worse as Washington is probably more partisan and more ideological than it’s ever been."
Plummer and Enyart did agree on some issues. Both professed support for Second Amendment rights and the need to pass a farm bill. And both said they would support coal production, an important industry in southern Illinois.
Enyart said "nothing drives me crazier than to see those mile-long trains hauling coal from the western states through southern Illinois to eastern power plants to be burned." And Plummer said he would fight "tooth and nail" to make sure "we have access to our coal, to make sure we have access to the natural resources we’ve been blessed with."
Bradshaw, however, took a different view, contending that Congress should look toward renewable energy.
"If we had spent all that money on renewable energy, the kind of energy that has been around the past 100 years, then we would be much better off," Bradshaw said. "You’re kind of forgetting that burning coal causes mercury pollution of our rivers and lakes, it causes asthma in our children down wind."
Nationalized contest
Plummer and Enyart have been locked in an increasingly acrimonious contest in recent weeks. Enyart — the former head of the Illinois National Guard — stepped into the race after former St. Clair County superintendent Brad Harriman bowed out due to medical issues. Plummer — an executive with RP Lumber and the 2010 GOP nominee for lieutenant governor — won a contested primary in March.
The campaign has commonalities with the presidential contest between Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Both Plummer and national Republicans have sought to link Enyart to some of Obama’s more unpopular policies.
Case in point: A representative from the National Republican Congressional Committee sent out a pre-debate missive claiming Enyart "has made it clear that his priority in Washington would be to support Nancy Pelosi’s job-destroying policies over Southern Illinois families." During the debate, Plummer noted that Enyart was the only person in the studio opposed to repealing the health care bill.
Enyart and Democrats have excoriated Plummer for refusing to release his tax returns, perhaps in a similar fashion to how Democrats have been critical of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's refusal to release more of his own records. Enyart’s campaign released a radio ad on Wednesday pressing the issue, which included lines about how Plummer "needs to be honest about how much he avoids in taxes."
Plummer didn’t respond to Enyart on the tax return issue during the debate. While Enyart has released a decade’s worth of tax returns, Plummer has said that his personal financial disclosure form — which all candidates are required to file — is sufficient.
Both candidates during the debate also attacked each other’s occupational backgrounds. Plummer painted Enyart was a "trial lawyer" who was part of reason businesses are leaving Illinois. After pointing out that he worked part time jobs and received assistance through the G.I. Bill to get through college, Enyart then said Plummer was an "inherited millionaire."
David Yepsen, the director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in Carbondale, said after the debate that the candidates are still getting their bearings after the contest drastically changed earlier this year.
"I don’t think anybody got cute. They answered the questions," said Yepsen in a telephone interview with the Beacon after the debate. "There were a few zingers here and there. But for the most part, I just think that they were sort of learning the ropes. I would expect the next debate to be a little more spirited, although it won’t have quite the reach."
He said both major candidates have to be "careful" in how they craft attacks against each other.
"People are fed up with rough-and-tumble politics," Yepsen said. "They want solutions. People see all these problems around the country and around the world. And they want people to talk about solutions. So a candidate who wants to go negative and make that focus is really risking backlash. Yeah, it fires up the base. You just have to be careful."
The debate was sponsored by The Southern Illinoisan, WSIU Public Television, Belleville News-Democrat, Paul Simon Public Policy Institute and Jackson County League of Women Voters. The candidates will meet again for two debates in Marion Sept. 20 and in Belleville Oct. 10.
