By Shelley Kofler, KERA News Director
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Dallas, TX – Thursday night, with less than two weeks to go before early voting, U.S. Senate candidates squared off in their first of two televised debates. KERA's Shelley Kofler reports on Democratic challenger Rick Noriega's effort to knock incumbent John Cornyn out of his perceived lead, by knocking his record.
With a campaign that has more than $7 million in ready cash, after spending millions already, there's no question Republican incumbent John Cornyn holds an enormous financial lead over Democrat Rick Noriega. It's money that has for weeks allowed Cornyn with his TV messaging into living rooms across Texas while his opponent has depended on cheaper web videos and a lot of handshaking.
On the eve of their first debate Cornyn released his sixth TV ad walking among windmills while he advocates energy independence. Noriega launched his first, standing in front of images of foreclosure signs and gas pumps, saying he's tired of Washington politicians who bail out special interests while ignoring families.
Congress' $700 billion bailout was the theme Noriega revisited at the beginning and end of the hour-long debate as the state representative from Houston claimed the first term Senator from San Antonio was wrong to have supported it.
Noriega: I wouldn't have voted for the $700 billion bailout bill that Senate Cornyn supported. It did not have the regulatory means in there to fix the problem, to fix the hole in the roof while the house is flooding. It didn't have the accountability to put cops on Wall Street like we have on Main Street. And quite frankly we need to see that people go to jail that got us in to this mess.
Senator Cornyn agreed, those responsible for financial wrongdoing should be prosecuted. But he defended his vote.
Cornyn: It is not sufficient to stand by and let the house burn down and take out the neighborhood. Strong leadership means you have to act in a time of crisis and not stand there and let the worst thing that could happen to the retirements, the savings, the mutuals funds of Texans just go to ash.
Yvonne Adams-Schick, the Libertarian candidate on the ballot responded to the bailout question as she did to many others.
Schick: The solution to our struggling economy is to slash government spending.
Noriega attacked Cornyn for opposing a bill that would have expanded the CHIP health insurance plan to cover some children whose families now earn too much to qualify. Cornyn accused Noriega of standing idle while Texas children who do qualify for CHIP just don't sign up.
Cornyn defended his support of get-tough on immigration measures which includes his backing of the border fence. Noriega opposes the fence and has said just sending immigrants home won't work.
By the end of the debate, Noriega's campaign had reinforced his debate attacks on Cornyn's leadership with at least eight emails to the media.
Cornyn and Noriega meet again next week, for a live, statewide debate televised from the studios of KERA.