Democratic candidates square off in debate before mostly student audience
Taylor Muller
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: News
|
Carter and Esch are vying for the opportunity to challenge incumbent Rep. Lee Terry in the general election on Nov. 4. The second district covers Douglas County including Omaha and its suburbs.
The debate was held in the Milo Bail Student Center and drew more than 100 supporters, many of whom were students. Reflecting the youth in the audience, both candidates are relatively young themselves. This is Carter's first foray into public office; Esch ran unsuccessfully in 2006 against Terry.
Carter is currently an economics professor at Metropolitan Community College. He also served in the Air Force Reserve in Iraq and Afghanistan. Esch is an Omaha-based attorney who graduated from Creighton.
Political science professor Carson Holloway served as moderator of the event, with 10 questions selected beforehand and 30 minutes for audience questions. Gateway Editor-in-Chief Scott Stewart moderated the audience question portion.
Despite both belonging to the Democratic party, each candidate worked to differentiate himself, focusing on national issues like Social Security, universal health care and tax cuts.
Carter, focusing on his experience in economics and service in the armed forces, said that in order to stop a potential economic recession, "we must balance the budget. A balanced budget is crucial to a healthy economy."
He said he supported giving tax cuts to the middle class and letting tax cuts expire for the rich until the nation's budget was balanced.
Esch said the tax cuts enacted by President George W. Bush would need to be extended beyond the top 1 percent of the income bracket and that bipartisan agreements would also need to be reached in Congress for progress to be made.
Be the first to comment on this story