There was plenty of positive spin from the campaigns of both 2nd Congressional District candidates on Thursday evening after Democrat Harry Teague and Republican Ed Tinsley squared off in a nationally televised forum.
But the reality is that, while neither candidate crashed and burned, neither candidate shone at the forum, which was sponsored by New Mexico First and televised statewide on public stations and across the nation on C-SPAN.
In an interview following the forum, State Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces and a Teague supporter, characterized the difference between the candidates as “somebody who’s in touch with southern New Mexico (Teague) versus somebody who’s not (Tinsley),” and said Teague represents change, while Tinsley favors the status quo.
Meanwhile,
“The biggest thing I noticed was Ed’s understanding of the issues, and he did go into depth and he proposed solutions,”
Teague spoke the phrase “
Bill Wozniak, a registered independent who said he went into the forum leaning toward Teague but not decided, said Teague’s suggestion that negotiating lower drug costs would help reduce the cost of health care convinced him to vote for the Democrat. As an AARP volunteer, he said he’s worked on health-care issues and believes Teague’s answer indicated his understanding of the health system.
Meanwhile, Tinsley, who has a reputation for making statements that stir up controversy, didn’t say anything at the forum that will likely land him on Keith Olbermann’s list of the worst people in the world, as a prior comment did earlier this year. And while Teague often repeated talking points when given opportunities to expound on answers, Tinsley often used the opportunities to provide additional detail about his stances.
Several people I spoke with following the forum said neither candidate inspired. The comments on the New Mexico In Focus Twitterfeed following the forum were fairly lukewarm. On topics including energy, health care and the war, neither candidate strayed much from their party’s talking points.
On the economy
Their lengthy discussion on the economy was a little more interesting.
Teague and Tinsley agreed that
Asked about the financial bailout approved last week, Tinsley said he would have voted against it.
“What I’ve seen, it’s almost like privatizing profits and socializing losses,” Tinsley said, adding that the bailout is “cruel and unusual punishment to the taxpayers.”
He added that he doesn’t favor government interference in the markets but, because the government created the economic crisis, it has a responsibility to fix it.
Teague didn’t say whether he would have voted for the bailout bill but said, to earn his vote, such a bill would have needed to protect taxpayers and homeowners, provide strong oversight and prohibit golden parachutes for corporate executives.
In trying to convince voters that he can help solve the financial crisis, Teague said the current situation is similar to the economic conditions in
Teague and Tinsley both said the nation’s economic woes indicate a bipartisan failure to solve problems. Teague said
Declaring victory
A news release sent by the Teague campaign following the forum declared victory and included quotes from Cervantes and Republican Lea County Commissioner Randy McCormick.
“Harry made clear that he will bring our commonsense New Mexican values to Congress and that he will use those values to work within the majority caucus to bring jobs and resources to southern
Tinsley, in an interview following the forum, said he was able to clearly state his positions on and understanding of the issues, but Teague was not.
“He didn’t seem to have solutions or a lot of ideas for solutions going forward,” Tinsley said. “He talked a lot about problems. But we both recognize there are problems.”
You can watch the hour-long forum here: