The three Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate stepped on the stage Tuesday night for their first televised debate and battled over who would be the party’s best candidate in November.
Former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, wrestling entrepreneur Linda McMahon, and investor Peter Schiff squared off at the University of Hartford in a debate sponsored by The Hartford Courant and Fox 61.
The first 15 minutes focused on the economy as the candidates criticized various bailouts and the Democrat-written stimulus bill that was designed to jump start the national economy.
When asked, in the first question, how he would get the economy back on track, Simmons responded, “I would not recommend lawsuits as a way to create jobs.”
That remark was a reference to a comment made on the same stage on Monday night by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Blumenthal had said that the many lawsuits that he had filed through the years had actually created jobs because businesses want a level playing field that could be accomplished through the lawsuits.
Both Simmons and Schiff said they opposed the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program, known as TARP. McMahon said she supported TARP in its original form, adding, “I would not have supported AIG bailouts or auto bailouts.”
By 7:12 p.m., the McMahon campaign had already sent out an e-mail that responded to the comment by Simmons that McMahon had supported TARP.
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“I’m not running because I need a job,” McMahon said in her closing remarks. “I’m running to shake things up. … I’m not a career politician. … I want to be your senator. I want to hear what you have to say.”
In his closing remarks, Simmons mentioned his grandfather, who was born in Brooklyn, New York and was from a family of Irish immigrants.
“The Simmons family did not come here for a government program,” Simmons said. “I believe the American Dream is at risk” because of recent policies. “I’m certainly the only candidate who has served in war and worked for peace.”
Schiff, who employs more than 100 people in six offices in his investment firm, said, “I’m an economist who actually got it right. … Nobody sounded the alarm louder than I did. … A lot of people laughed at me.”
Away from the television cameras, McMahon has recently been conducting a brochure blitz that blasts Simmons repeatedly for his votes in Congress on a variety of issues. Simmons has rejected some of the claims as false, but he has not had the money to run television commercials as a counter-attack. Some insiders say that a continuing, relentless attack by McMahon will have an impact on the campaign, even if Simmons is able to rebut some of the charges.
The brochures are being sent to Republican households around the state, but some Democrats and independents have received them at their homes, too.
The highly expensive brochures have included multiple fold-outs and are part of a campaign in which McMahon has said she could spend as much as $50 million of her own money. So far, the campaign has spent at least $6.5 million – including television and radio commercials. By contrast, neither Simmons nor Schiff has broadcast any television commercials.
Simmons recently told Capitol Watch that he has raised about $3 million overall.