Edge to Tillis
Published September 5, 2014
Edtorial by Greensboro News-Record, September 5, 2014.
Sen. Kay Hagan defended her math skills in her debate with Speaker Thom Tillis Wednesday, but she failed to deflect other attacks as effectively.
The Democratic incumbent could have done so much better, but she let her Republican challenger get through the televised encounter with little damage.
Polls indicate this important U.S. Senate race is very close. The political parties and special-interest groups are pouring millions of dollars into TV ads. The outcome might determine control of the Senate.
The debate presented a chance for the candidates to connect directly with voters. Tillis made the most of it, touting accomplishments as speaker of the N.C. House and criticizing Hagan’s record. She missed openings to drive holes through his record and to explain her own.
As expected, Tillis pointed to Hagan’s assurances in 2009 and 2010 that the Affordable Care Act would not cause anyone to lose medical insurance they wanted to keep. Her answer, blaming insurance companies and stating that when she discovered the problem last year she immediately pushed for a remedy, doesn’t adequately address the concerns of people who feel they got a bad deal. Nor did she firmly enough remind viewers of the harm done to ordinary people driven into bankruptcy by staggering bills or denied coverage before Obamacare provided new options. She also never mentioned reports showing that North Carolina taxpayers will pay billions to support expanded Medicaid coverage in other states, while North Carolina gets no benefit because of Tillis’ decision to refuse the expansion.
Hagan seemed poorly prepared to explain why she’s “voted with President Obama 95 percent of the time,” as Tillis charged. She mentioned a handful of issues where she differed with the president but could have said she agrees with Obama on most issues and asked Tillis where he disagrees, other than on health care. Not all Obama policies are unpopular.
Hagan also could have ridiculed Tillis’ claim that he would work across the aisle to get things done in Washington. The extreme gerrymandering engineered by Tillis and Republicans in Raleigh show they’re more interested in building walls than bipartisan cooperation.
On the minimum wage, Hagan said she supports an increase and asserted that Tillis opposes any minimum. He didn’t deny it, saying businesses should decide what to pay employees. Then he called the minimum wage a “stepping stone” for workers. Hagan let him get away without asking what happens when a stepping stone is removed.
Tillis boasted of the steep drop in the state’s unemployment rate, although job creation isn’t impressive. Hagan mentioned her efforts to support small businesses and protect defense spending, which accounts for thousands of North Carolina jobs.
Tillis faulted Hagan’s math skills when she charged he cut education spending by $500 million. He boasted of the average 7 percent pay raise provided for teachers this year. Both are right, with caveats. The education cuts are in relation to enrollment growth. The average teacher raise is less than 7 percent with longevity pay eliminated.
Some critical math for both candidates is that there are 60 days until the election. Both have much work to do to win over undecided voters. Tillis’ effort in the first debate was a little better than Hagan’s.
