Last Thursday Murray and Rossi came together in Spokane for the first debate of this election. The debate centered “on tax cuts, and the role of the government” according to the Komonews article by Nicholas Geranios.
"If Mr. Rossi gets his way and extends the Bush tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans to the tune of almost $1 trillion, there is no way to sustain the programs so important to us," Murray said. "You can count on me to make sure our parents are taken care of."
Being the underdog these debates are more important to Rossi, however it seems most voters were not shifted one way or another and that who they were voting for before the debate is the same person they are voting for afterwards.
Rossi was not happy with the way the debate went, taking a quote from the Seattle times article any minds changed by last night’s Rossi-Murray Senate Debate by Jim Brunner "We didn't get asked any questions about bailouts or financial reform or earmarks or anything like that, but we had a number of other questions that were more localized over here in Eastern Washington," Rossi told reporters.
On both the war in Afghanistan and the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring gays from serving openly in military, Murray said clearly what her views are. She wants to pressure the Obama administration to withdraw from Afghanistan and she backs repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."
Rossi said he'd defer to the military on both subjects. He said it's a mistake to publicize a withdrawal date for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, because terrorists will simply go into hiding until then. And he said he's waiting for a forthcoming report from the Pentagon on the consequences of ending "don't ask, don't tell." Both these quotes are courtesy of the Seattle Times article that I mentioned above.
Sunday Night, the two had a second debate in Seattle. Rossi seemed to hold the attention during this debate, while Murray kind of stumbled along. Although Murray did seem to establish the I’m a “mom in tennis shoes” image she was trying to reintroduce into voters minds instead of the “D.C. power broker hell-bent on an agenda and insensitive to frustration it has caused among the populace” according to Everett Herald article Rossi comes alive in second debate by Jerry Cornfield. Even though Rossi seemed to be the leader in this debate, he still would not answer whether he was for or against repealing the “dont ask dont tell” policy.
In conclusion, the debate in Spokane was fairly civilized and although Rossi didn’t like the way the questions went, both candidates seemed to be focused on what they wanted to say to the public. Rossi with his icy smile permanently smeared across his face and Murray with her signature scowl or game face on during the entire debate. In Seattle although Murray did hold onto her dominate roll that she had in Spokane she seemed to get her point across that she isnt the person people have made her out to be, however it has been mentioned that Sundays debate could push the unsure voters into voting for Rossi. However we won’t know for sure until the votes are in.
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