Congressional candidates spar in spirited TV debate

EDITOR'S NOTE: This version clarifies local communities in the 9th District.

CLEVELAND -- Three candidates for Ohio's new 9th Congressional District argued spiritedly over abortion, energy policy, and the national debt in the first taped televised debate of the March 6 election campaign Monday.

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) tried to stick to her theme of being the hard-working representative with a "caring heart," while U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D., Cleveland) boasted of saving steel-mill and hospital jobs while fighting for progressive goals of peace, universal health care, and free college tuition.

And snapping at the ankles of both was Graham Veysey, 29, a Cleveland entrepreneur making his first run for public office.

Mr. Veysey, who lives just outside the district in west Cleveland and who has a video production company, attacked Miss Kaptur and Mr. Kucinich over the problem of the growing national debt.

"I'm talking about the future of America and we're mortgaging it with this $15 trillion debt. I don't hear any solution coming from either Congresswoman Kaptur or Congressman Kucinich," Mr. Veysey said.

He advocated adopting the recommendations of the Bowles-Simpson commission, which was formed by President Obama in 2010.

Miss Kaptur said the House works with legislation submitted by the President, not by a commission.

"Just to swallow that particular commission and take it out of the hides of our senior citizens, or of our working people … " Miss Kaptur began to say.

"What about the hides of my generation?" Mr. Veysey interposed.

"You can't take 10 people and say, 'Let them decide for America,' " Miss Kaptur said. "You've got to use the committee process." She went on to complain that the committee process in Congress is broken, which she blamed on former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose tenure was during the 1990s.

Mr. Kucinich said, "We have to be careful with these so-called reform commissions because some of them are looking at extending the age of retirement for Social Security or cutting retirement benefits." He blamed the economic downturn on former President Bush's tax cuts, the war in Iraq, and on unfair international trade deals.

The debate was taped as an edition of In the Spotlight, a public affairs program hosted by Bob Conklin on the NEON channel (23) in most of the Time-Warner cable system viewing area in Cuyahoga, Lorain, and part of Erie counties. The debate was to be broadcast twice Monday and at 3 and 10 p.m. Tuesday.

The newly drawn district stretches from southwest Toledo to west Cleveland, with a string of Lake Erie communities along the way. It includes big pieces of the districts currently represented by Miss Kaptur and Mr. Kucinich, so both saw an opportunity to win the new district. Statewide, Ohio is losing two of its 18 U.S. House members because Ohio's 2010 population growth was slower than in the South and West.

The winner of the March 6 primary will go on to face the winner of the Republican primary. The two GOP candidates are Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher of Springfield Township and Steven Kraus of Huron.

Local communities that are in the 9th District are Oregon, Jerusalem and Washington townships, and most of Toledo, with the exception of the Southwyck, Heatherdowns, Beverly, and River Road areas of South Toledo, and west of Jackman Road and north of I-475. Those areas and the rest of western Lucas County are now in the 5th District, represented by Rep. Bob Latta (R., Bowling Green).

The debaters fought over defense matters, a key issue for Miss Kaptur, who is a high-ranking Democrat on the defense appropriations subcommittee and prides herself on working successfully to direct Pentagon spending into northwest Ohio.

Mr. Kucinich, a member of Congress since 1997, accused Miss Kaptur of failing to use her seniority on the House Appropriations Committee to stop $547 billion in funding for the war in Iraq. "She would have been instrumental in ending the war early and saving lives and a lot of money," Mr. Kucinich said.

Saying she did oppose the Iraq war, Miss Kaptur replied, "When our troops are in the field and our decision has been made, we have a responsibility to protect them.

"Mr. Kucinich was referring to our Defense Department in a very negative way. You have never voted for a defense bill in your life. When you talked about saving a steel plant, you voted against the bills that funded that with the development of the F-35 joint strike fighter," she said.

Mr. Kucinich retorted, "You can't cover up your votes for wars by saying that I should have supported it in order to have a steel plant. We have the steel plant without me supporting wars."

At many times during the one-hour show the three of them talked over each other. They disagreed over unemployment compensation, with Mr. Veysey saying 99 weeks is enough and Mr. Kucinich saying payments should last as long as a person is out of work. Miss Kaptur's position was less clear. She said she supports the extension of unemployment and job training.

On minimum wage, Miss Kaptur agreed with the President's plan to raise it to $9.50 an hour from $7.25. Mr. Veysey and Mr. Kucinich favored an increase to $10 an hour.

Mr. Veysey and Mr. Kucinich agreed with stopping the Keystone pipeline project that would bring oil into the United States to be refined.

Miss Kaptur said she supports the Keystone pipeline because there are refineries in the area investing money to refine it. She said "if the President has a better route through which to move the product, fine."

Mr. Kucinich said opening the Keystone pipeline would cause local gasoline prices to "skyrocket" because, he said, Canada plans to shut down refineries.

Miss Kaptur challenged that, saying prices would decline because the product would be sold closer to where it is refined.

"The gentleman wants to shut down lots of things," Miss Kaptur said. "I am for producing energy here in Ohio. I don't buy the gentleman's argument."

On same-sex marriage, both Mr. Veysey and Mr. Kucinich were fully in support. Miss Kaptur said she "probably" supported the Ohio constitutional ban on gay marriage in Ohio and said she believes the issue should continue to evolve at the state level.

Mr. Veysey paid no deference to his older fellow politicians, who are both 65.

When Mr. Conklin turned the discussion to nuclear power, Miss Kaptur said she supports additional nuclear power plants if they can be built safely and if a way can be found to dispose of the waste.

Mr. Kucinich attacked First Energy Corp., operator of the Davis-Besse nuclear power station, over what he said was a concealment of the extent of the cracks last year in the containment building: "Either fix that shield building or close the plant," he said.

Mr. Veysey said Mr. Kucinich was "Johnny-Come-Lately" on the subject of Davis-Besse safety. "I go to Ottawa County and they say they've never seen Dennis Kucinich before," Mr. Veysey said.

Mr. Kucinich retorted, "Before you were born I was trying to raise questions about Davis-Besse."

Miss Kaptur interjected, "You might have been trying to raise questions, but I was the one working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission."

On abortion, Mr. Veysey and Mr. Kucinich said flatly they would oppose the bill now pending in the Ohio General Assembly to ban abortions when the fetus' heartbeat can be detected. Miss Kaptur said only, "I probably wouldn't support it."

Mr. Veysey called Miss Kaptur "the longest-serving anti-woman's reproductive rights" [lawmaker] in Congress and "anti-choice," and called Mr. Kucinich "multiple choice" because his position has been "inconsistent."

"Don't describe my position," Mr. Kucinich cautioned him.

"I just did," Mr. Veysey replied.

"Don't be cute," said Mr. Kucinich.

"This is a perfect example of why we need more women in Congress, because there seems to be a lot of heat and not a lot of light," Miss Kaptur said. She defended her position on abortion as in favor of women having choice, but opposing government funding for abortion.

Contact Tom Troy at tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058.