AAC Blog

Greensboro News & Record

The most telling exchange of the debate, I thought, came on a question about the federal deficit and whether Congress should be reining in spending or helping the states.

Marshall: "Right now is not the time to be cutting back,” Marshall said, adding that lax federal regulation had caused some of the states’ budget problems, so it was right that the states should chip in. She used the occasion to attack Burr for voting against the extension of unemployment insurance, citing examples of teachers and police officers going on unemployment. (My inner political consultant says: Classic Democratic position, bonus points for talking about public-sector employees people might care if they get laid off, bonus points for slagging opponent with a fact-based criticism.)
Burr: “I voted three times to pay for unemployment insurance,” he said, re-characterizing his vote as one that didn’t necessarily block the program but merely wanted to see it paid for as we go. “We're $13.3 trillion in debt -- the answer is to stop spending." Burr also quantified the debt per each American child under 18 years old at somewhere north of $100,000. (My inner political consultant says: Burr gets credit for some verbal judo, saying that he’s not against a bill that he voted against and not totally tripping the BS meter. The idea for paying for stuff we need as we go sounds good. And talking about our kids’ future debt load gives an emotional counter to Marshall’s teachers and cops thing.)

Bottom line: Throughout the debate, Marshall looked the most fired up of the three. She really had to convince the Democratic base she has a shot at unseating Burr, and it would seem to me she might have given supporters something to smile about. Burr brought some gravitas to his appearance although didn’t look all that energetic. He was able to counter the “Republicans as obstructionists” storyline Marshall was selling. Beitler might have earned a look from some of the Tea Party folks who were never going to vote for Marshall and were dissatisfied with Burr.