Posted on 10/23/2002 7:03:10 AM PDT by BlackRazor
Debate draws top candidates into crossfire
10/23/02
R. GREGORY NOKES
and JEFF MAPES
The two major party candidates for governor attacked each other's records on taxes and managing the state budget Tuesday night in their last debate televised statewide, with each accusing his opponent of distorting his record.
Republican Kevin Mannix and Democrat Ted Kulongoski both said the other side is using TV ads to unfairly tie them to a sales tax.
Mannix said he regretted voting as a legislator to put a sales tax on the ballot in 1993 to give voters a chance to have their say -- a large majority said no -- because Kulongoski "twisted it around" to imply that Mannix wanted it to pass.
In turn, Kulongoski said Mannix's TV ads have been wrong in saying he would impose a sales tax as governor. "I have never supported a sales tax; I do not have a sales tax," Kulongoski said. The Democrat has said during the campaign that he isn't ruling out any options for tax reform and would consider a consumption tax.
Mannix said he wanted a "tax peace" as governor by opposing any legislatively imposed tax increases.
Kulongoski said that Mannix's pledge had several loopholes and that his "word-and-shell-game is not good government."
Squaring off in a debate for the sixth time this month, each candidate appeared particularly polished and well-prepared for a prime-time audience. The debate, in KGW (8) studios in Portland, was sponsored by The Oregonian and KGW.
Kulongoski was forceful in arguing he'd bring more business to Oregon and persuade a wide variety of groups to work together.
Mannix bluntly said people who wanted things to stay the same should vote for Kulongoski. The Republican said he'd bring sweeping changes to state government and its bureaucracy.
Many of their clashes were devoted to the tax and budget issues that have bedeviled a state government caught in a spiral of declining revenue because of Oregon's weak economy.
Kulongoski defended his support for the temporary, three-year income tax the Legislature sent to voters for a special election on Jan. 28. He said he didn't like it but preferred it to the other options of borrowing or deep cuts in spending as the way to balance the state's 2001-03 budget.
"There's a fourth option: Elect me as governor," Mannix countered. "Ted is apparently clueless about the other options that I've talked about. . . . Let's talk about the $500 to $600 million in additional funds available, sitting in accounts right now."
Kulongoski said Mannix really is talking about backdoor methods of borrowing.
"Every time I listen to Mr. Mannix say this, I actually sit and think I'm listening to a Presidents Day mattress sale," Kulongoski said. "It says there is no interest, there's no payments and you don't have to pay until 2005. . . . It may be a good way to sell mattresses, but it is not a good way to run government."
Mannix said he'd find efficiencies in the Oregon Health Plan that he said could save millions of dollars. He said he'd make the state's education reform plan -- which requires a Certificate of Initial Mastery and eventually a Certificate of Advanced Mastery -- voluntary for school districts.
Kulongoski, who supports both programs, questioned how much Mannix could produce in savings. He noted that Mannix served on the Legislature's budget committee, where "he had his hand on the throttle of all this waste and didn't do anything about it."
Mannix accused Kulongoski of being "deceptive" in claiming in ads that Mannix's proposal to reduce government regulations by half would threaten protections for the environment and seniors in nursing homes.
The Republican candidate said he only wanted to simplify and clarify regulations to make it easier for businesses to operate in Oregon and for people to understand them.
The debate was the last to be televised statewide in the 2002 campaign for Oregon governor before the Nov. 5 general election. Because there was no audio during an early portion of the debate, due to a technical problem, the entire one-hour debate will be repeated at 7 p.m. Sunday.
The debate did not include Libertarian Tom Cox, the third candidate in the race. It was limited to candidates receiving at least 10 percent support in statewide polls.
The final debate of the campaign will be Friday in Bend and will videotaped for broadcast in Central Oregon at 9 a.m. Sunday on KFXO (39). Cox will be included.
A new KGW poll released Tuesday showed Kulongoski leads Mannix by 6 percentage points. The telephone poll of 600 likely voters showed Kulongoski with 41 percent support, compared with 35 percent for Mannix and 3 percent for Cox.
Asked which of the two major party candidates would best get Oregon's economy moving again, 39 percent picked Kulongoski and 33 percent Mannix.
Voters were asked who they thought would best hold the line on taxes, and Mannix got 40 percent to 25 percent for Kulongoski. The numbers were exactly the opposite when respondents were asked who they thought would do the better job of improving education.
The poll was conducted Oct. 14-19 by Riley Research Associates. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The poll results are at the end of this article.
If you want on or off my poll ping list, let me know!
True, but I don't subscribe to the "...and therefor nothing can be done" school of politics. Mannix is a stand up guy; if elected, he will set some thing straight. Kitzhaber is a very bad human being; Mannix is someone worth respecting.
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