J. KAT WORONOWICZ For the North County Times
Candidates for the 50th Congressional District Candidate debate Thursday night the M. Gordon Clarke Field House at the Cal State San Marcos.
Posted on 03/24/2006 9:56:13 AM PST by NormsRevenge
SAN MARCOS ----- There's been a deluge of TV advertising, extensive newspaper and TV coverage and one candidate forum after the other.
And yet, one can only wonder how many voters have had the time or energy to educate themselves on the qualifications, political beliefs and personalities of all of the 18 candidates in the running for the 50th District Congressional seat formerly held by disgraced Republican Randy "Duke" Cunningham.
With less than three weeks until the April 11 special election to pick a temporary replacement for Cunningham, the latest opportunity for voters to get to know the candidates came Thursday night at the Cal State San Marcos Alumni Association's candidate debate.
But the logistics of giving the 14 participating candidates a chance to present their views on a variety of subjects ---- ranging from illegal immigration to congressional ethics to the federal deficit ---- forced the event's organizers to limit each candidate's speaking time. Each congressional hopeful was allowed a 90-second opening statement, one minute to answer each question, and a 90-second closing statement.
While a full-scale debate would be ideal, the large number of candidates made it impossible to set aside time for greater back and forth between candidates, alumni association Director Jack Burke said. Candidates had a chance to rebut each other on a specific issue, but only during their allotted 60-second response time. And by doing so, they sacrificed the little time they had to present their own ideas on a topic.
Ten of the participating congressional hopefuls were Republicans: former Congressman Brian Bilbray; Carlsbad resident and business owner Bill Boyer; former Del Mar Mayor Richard Earnest; San Diego resident and business owner Bill Hauf; San Diego resident Delecia Holt, an intelligence security analyst; San Marcos resident and former state Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian; Solana Beach resident and California Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Newsome; Solana Beach resident and retired Judge Victor Ramirez; Rancho Santa Fe resident and businessman Eric Roach; and business owner and Del Mar resident Alan Uke.
Two Democrats participated: Cardiff School District board member Francine Busby, who lost to Cunningham in 2004; and Oceanside resident and former banking executive Chris Young. Also participating were Carlsbad Independent and math teacher William Griffith, and Oceanside Libertarian and small-business owner Paul King.
State Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside, who has been touted as one the front runners in the race, did not attend. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Some of the most telling and provocative comments came in response to questions on illegal immigration.
King said the problem with illegal immigration lies in Mexico, not the United States.
"I would encourage the Mexican people to reform ---- overthrow ---- the Mexican government," King said.
Hauf said that he would only support a guest worker program for illegal immigrants who first return to their country of origin and then apply for guest worker status.
Ramirez disagreed.
"Eleven million people are not going to be swept up and arrested," he said. He added that he would support a "creative and wise" guest worker program, that would include withholding part of workers pay and only allowing them to receive that money once they return to their own country.
Kaloogian said the government should first locate and deport those illegal immigrants who entered the country on visas and never left.
Holt said she would hold the Mexican government responsible and impose "economic and criminal" sanctions against them.
One of the few moments of conflict came when Young said some candidates are going overboard on the issue of ethics in Washington.
"America take heart, we have laws in place and they are working," she said, apparently referring to Cunningham's recent guilty pleas to bribery and tax evasion, and his sentencing to serve eight years and four months in a federal prison.
Newsome called for the equivalent of a bureau of internal affairs tasked with investigating members of Congress.
Griffith said the answer to the ethics crisis in Washington is to elect ethical members of Congress.
"Or is that an oxymoron?" he said to laughs from many of 300-plus people who packed the university's student union hall.
Asked about the war in Iraq and whether we should set a timetable for leaving, several candidates said no.
Kaloogian said we should only leave Iraq "when the mission is accomplished, with a stable democracy that is able to defend itself from internal and external threats."
Almost all of the candidates said they would never have approved an increase in the limit on the national debt, as Congress did a few days ago.
Bilbray talked about his record on fiscal responsibility, saying that when he was in Congress in the 1990s, he voted for a presidential line item veto, to help control pork barrel spending. He also voted for a balanced budget amendment.
Uke said that while pork barrel spending is out of control because of the skyrocketing number of earmarks, it is important for members of Congress to bring federal dollars home to their districts. Therefore, he proposed setting a fixed amount of money for each congressional district to spend on worthy projects.
Roach, however, said that earmarks are driving the country further and further into debt.
"Don't we say to our children, 'live within your means' ---- I say no earmarks," he said.
Objecting to hidden earmarks, where the person who secures the last-minute spending is often never publically identified, Busby said, "it's not how much we are spending, it's where we are spending. And that will not change until we change the rules."
A spokesman for Bilbray said that the public needs to have the opportunity to see candidates participate in a full-scale debate on the issues of greatest concern to 50th District voters.
"In a debate, there is an opportunity to probe deeply into (candidates' positions on) public policy issues," Bilbray campaign spokesman Steve Danon said.
But even without the possibility of a debate, candidates at least need more time to expound on complex issues.
"When candidates are limited to 30 or 60 seconds how can you solve the federal budget deficit?" he asked. Having so little time to answer questions and not having an opportunity to challenge one another allows candidates who are not knowledgeable about the issues to hide behind prepared statements, Danon said.
"For those candidates who are not as informed as others, it's a safe haven ---- how much damage can you get into with a 30- or 60-second response?" he asked.
One man who turned out to see the forum said there was too little time for most people to get to know who the hopefuls are. He said he would like to see 20-minute opening statements by each candidate, then questions and rebuttals.
"But that's impossible because there are so many candidates," said Escondido resident Cy Chadley, 69.
Candidates for the 50th Congressional District Candidate debate Thursday night the M. Gordon Clarke Field House at the Cal State San Marcos.
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