PA-10: Carney and Sherwood debate VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Oh snap, video!

This past Wednesday, Democratic candidate Chris Carney and Republican incumbent Don Sherwood met for a debate at Bucknell University. That evening, both benthos ("Chris Carney is more smilier:" PA-10 Debate Report! UPDATE with Video!) and I (PA-10: Sherwood and Carney debate) wrote about the debate.

Now there are video highlights available about the debate, so I've provided links and discussion below to further illustrate the candidates and issues in what has become one of the key races this November.

Carney is one of those candidates that you get truly excited to support (and there are many Democratic candidates like that this election!) This debate was the first opportunity I have had to see him speak at length in person, and it raised my excitement level up a couple notches.

He speaks the language of conservative, rural areas like the PA-10th that the Democratic Party is finally paying attention to again. Notice the way he frames his responses in ways that ordinary folk can agree with.

Opening Statements
Where we see that the Republican party lacks ideas and always has.

Iraqi War
A clear difference between Carney's plan to win the war in Iraq and Sherwood's doomsday scenario.

Gasoline Prices
Carney nails Sherwood on campaign contributions from oil companies and nails the Republican administration on the Cheney Energy plan. Sherwood responds with an odd rhetorical question and a stern lecture.

Route 11/15 Project
A local issue, but watch where Chris Carney claims we will have a majority in the House.

Social Security
Carney thinks the rich should share the burden of contributing to Social Security so that it stays solvent. Sherwood thinks we should raise the age for collecting benefits.

Closing Statements

We can win this race, but Chris Carney does need help. From talking to other people, I've learned that although he is ahead in the polls, Republicans hold a registration advantage of 55,000 voters in the district, and they have a pretty solid GOTV program in place in the state. So please consider contributing if you can.

•  Tipsy doodle

  My apologies to benthos, it wasn't till I was done writing this and working on my links that I noticed he had updated his diary to include a link to the same video I found.

  Ah well, this race can always use more attention :)

  by hartboy on Fri Oct 06, 2006 at 07:27:15 PM PDT

  •  That is sooo OK

    by me!

    This is THE race of 2006, IMHO.

    OK, OK, I live in the district, but never was a choice so clear.

    The more attention the better!

    And I only linked to the opening statements, I think.

    by benthos on Sat Oct 07, 2006 at 05:26:35 PM PDT

    •  Thanks!

      Whereabouts in the district do you live, btw?

      by hartboy on Sun Oct 08, 2006 at 08:35:47 PM PDT

•  being completely objective

  and trying to think like a republican (that is who Chris has to won over), who do you think "won" the debate?

  by TeresaInPa on Fri Oct 06, 2006 at 08:35:26 PM PDT

  •  I guess it depends

    It's harder and harder for me to think like republicans anymore. :)

    Carney probably didn't win over the hard-core pro-lifers. He probably didn't win over the pro-bush, iraq-was-responsible-for-9/11, islamofascism is more evil than nazism and more dangerous than communism crowd.

    I could see him winning over moderate and dissatisfied republicans. He spoke honestly and sincerely about values. His affable demeanor is appealing, and his pentagon advisor/college professor background can't hurt.

    Objectively, it was probably a close draw.

    But honestly, putting aside my own prejudices, I thought Carney was the better debator, in terms of answering the questions in a concrete fashion, unlike Sherwood, who seemed to be repeating rhetoric that didn't always jive with the specific intent of the questions. He also seemed flustered several times, going back to prior questions twice during his responses, and generally sounding like he was on the defensive.

    And really, for Sherwood to regain the ground he's lost, he needed to do a lot better than a draw during this debate -- win back the values voters that are dissatisfied with his affair, win back the conservatives who feel abandoned by their national party -- so as far as that goes, I don't think he succeeded.

    by hartboy on Fri Oct 06, 2006 at 09:36:15 PM PDT

    •  that is good news

      Chris is the right candidate to take back this district.  Patrick Casey never could have. I realized during his first run that he never really had a chance evern when Scranton was part of the district.
      I think Chris is going to win.

      by TeresaInPa on Sat Oct 07, 2006 at 07:13:28 AM PDT

  •  I had to begrudginly admire

    the chutzpah of Sherwood.  If the man had any shame at all, he'd have pulled out long ago.

    But Chris was on message all night, reminding listeners of his family values, military background, and counter-terrorism work.  He was very polished for a newcomer.

    by benthos on Sat Oct 07, 2006 at 05:29:32 PM PDT