The first senate debate was held today in Connecticut and the result wasn’t even close.
Congressman Chris Murphy came across as knowledgeable and passionate while his opponent, Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, came across as poorly informed and detached.
From the beginning, Murphy challenged McMahon on the facts while McMahon again and again refused to answer questions. For example, a journalist on the panel asked how the recession had affected McMahon. She never answered.
Asked about proposed Republican legislation denying Connecticut women coverage for birth control, mammograms, and cervical cancer screening, McMahon said that because she is a woman, her policies shouldn’t matter. (Sarah Plain redux.)
After McMahon repeated the claim that the Affordable Care Act cut funding to Medicare, Murphy responded: "President Obama let Mitt Romney get away with this $700 billion lie, and I'm not going to let Linda McMahon get away with it. That money was taken out of the budgets of health insurers who were being massively subsidized for providing Medicare advantage….”
McMahon was asked about her position on same-sex marriage: Which is better -- the status of same-sex marriage in Connecticut, where it is legal, or in your home state of North Carolina, where it is not?
"I absolutely support America's law for, you know, same-sex marriage," McMahon said.
Murphy appropriately pointed out her ignorance: "America doesn't have a law protecting same-sex marriage, in fact it has the exact opposite. She's not going to stand up to her party in Washington when it comes to these issues that are right now being dominated by the social right."
The weeks ahead will determine if Connecticut will support a tea partier or someone who is in tune with Connecticut’s needs and ideals.