With the 2010 midterm elections just five weeks away, three of Pennsylvania’s statewide political candidates seized an opportunity to discuss their policies and ideologies on television Monday night.
At an event in Hershey, Pa., the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry hosted the first debate between the two gubernatorial candidates — Republican Tom Corbett and Democrat Dan Onorato — moderated by former “Nightline” anchor Ted Koppel. The chamber also hosted an hour-long discussion between Koppel and Republican Senate nominee Pat Toomey.
U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, the Democratic Senate candidate, declined an invitation to attend the event. His campaign explained that the congressman had a previous commitment to attend a fundraiser in Pittsburgh.
While the debate covered a range of topics — including prisons, oil drilling and health care — one particular issue emerged as a major focal point of the debate: balancing the budget.
As funding provided by the stimulus package evaporates, Pennsylvania faces a treacherous, multi-billion-dollar budgetary shortfall in the coming year. Both candidates focused heavily on their plans to balance the budget, each emphasizing different methods of trimming spending.
Referring to his experience as Allegheny County executive, Onorato repeatedly pointed to his ability to balance budgets without raising property taxes. Rather than strictly cutting government programs, Onorato explained, “We need to streamline government to make it more efficient.”
Corbett, explicitly pledging not to raise taxes as Governor, focused on cutting government programs. “We have to cut the size of government,” he said.
Some students were skeptical of both candidates’ solutions to the deficit.
“You can’t pledge ahead of time to not raise taxes,” said College senior and Undergraduate Assembly Representative Grant Dubler. “You don’t know the fiscal realities that you will face down the road.”
“However, I also don’t believe streamlining the government will really make a big difference either,” Dubler added. “Both of them sounded like they genuinely wanted to solve the problem, but I’m not sure either one is ready to make the really tough decisions.”
In an earlier talk with Koppel, Toomey discussed his views on a number of topics. He expressed his belief in competition as the primary solution for the current problems in the American education and health care systems.
Explaining his opposition to new regulations such as cap-and-trade, card check and the new federal health care bill, Toomey argued that a competitive marketplace could create accountability and improve schools.
Regardless of the specific policies, both Democratic candidates will have to make up ground to win in November.
A Morning Call poll conducted from Sept. 18-23 shows Toomey leading Sestak by seven percent. The same poll also shows Corbett leading Onorato by nine percent.
