Here's a look at a couple of the Senate races at play in November. First up? Dana Bash in the State of the Union classroom with the candidates for the Colorado seat, Joe O'Dea (R) and incumbent Michael Bennet (D).O'Dea was up first; he was asked what he'd do about inflation if he gets elected. Mostly, "we have got to get our energy policy back on track" and that means "getting the permitting out of the way"
so we can go
back to work here in Colorado and flood the market with increased supply. It'll
cause the price to come down. Inflation will go away. That's how you do it.
Bash didn't follow up on that, or on data showing that the Biden administration is approving 96% of the lease permits it receives, or about approved leases not going into production. Instead, she moved on to guns, asking if O'Dea thought any new gun laws were needed.
He said Dems in his state are ignoring the laws on the books, that we "need more cops on the street" and to "make sure we're enforcing the laws we have." And, specifically on red flag laws, like the one in Colorado that's focused on mental health? Sheriffs tell him it doesn't work, "it puts them at risk. They're not happy with that law," and it needs to be rewritten.
...We need to
do more with mental health here to get these people off the street. But we have
hundreds of laws on the books. We need to enforce them. We need more cops on our street right now. If you
talk to Chief Pazen here of the city and county of Denver -- he's the chief of
police -- he will tell you he's short 250 officers. That's because Democrats
across the state of Colorado have defunded, demoralized the police. And we need
to do better.
Bash followed up, noting that Colorado's approved 146 applications to take guns away from dangerous people in two years, and asked if that didn't make his state safer.
He said no, citing stats saying it's the "the third worst state for violent crime in the
United States," and "they just deemed Denver as one of the most unsafe
cities in the nation." He said they have record crime everywhere, cashless bail issues, and again, the laws on the books need to be enforced.
Moving on, O'Dea said January 6th was "a black eye on the country" and that Trump "should have done more" to "keep the violence" away from the Capitol. Anyone who was violent needs to be held accountable. Trump should not run again, he said, and he'll "actively campaign" against him and will make sure the Rs have viable choices.
And finally, on abortion, he believes "for the first five months, that decision should be
between a woman and her doctor. After that, for rape, incest, life of the
mother, medical necessity, I believe that decision should also be between a
woman and her doctor." He says his position "is where most of America is."
Bash started her interview with Sen. Bennet asking why the Inflation Reduction Act isn't reducing inflation. Bennet pointed out that some pieces "are going to take a while to put into place." He also explained that it's "a global problem," something other Dems forget to do. He blamed oil prices that skyrocketed during the recovery and Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Bash interrupted him to note that the media's favorite economist, former Dem Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, said that spending Bennet voted for, "particularly $1.9 trillion for the American
Rescue Plan" is making inflation worse. Like other Dems who are paying attention, Bennet noted that other economists disagreed. And, he said, the ARP
kept 30,000
Coloradans from being evicted... it has funded law enforcement all
over the state, mental health services that we desperately need. It cut
childhood poverty in half last year because of a bill that I wrote. I'm
concerned that the Federal Reserve kept their interest rates at zero for too
long and that their quantitative easing was too aggressive. But that's looking
in the rearview mirror.
The senator said we can fix things by bringing supply chains back to the US, and "by making sure we are benefitting from the Inflation Reduction Act" by being the leader transitioning away from fossil fuels over the next 25 years. He thinks we're perfectly positioned to do that, and he thinks "that's an amazing place for us to be."
Bash turned to an ad run by a Dem group to help boost O'Dea's primary opponent "because they thought he would be easier" for Bennet to beat - and she wondered how Bennet would paint O'Dea as a "far-right Republican." Bennet said O'Dea does that by himself: he would have voted for all of Trump's SCOTUS picks; he opposes codifying abortion rights; he voted for a ballot issue that banned all abortions; and he doesn't think Trump bears any responsibility for the insurrection.
Bash asked if it was a "mistake for fellow Democrats to prop him up as" Bennet's opponent. Bennet said we need to reform the campaign finance system, noting he's "got a racist billionaire who's funding a super PAC" that's supporting O'Dea - from Wyoming.
That's not
helping voters in Colorado. But I want, Dana, you to know and I want your
viewers to know how out of touch he is with Colorado... not just on the abortion issue, but the idea that he would not
support any additional gun laws, including a law Mitch McConnell voted for in
the U.S. Senate. He thinks that our red flag law in Colorado after Columbine, after Aurora, is -- is out of touch.
Meanwhile, down the hall in the MTP classroom, What's-his-name talked with Evan McMullin, the Independent running against Republican incumbent Sen. Mike Lee. Notably, the other Utah senator, Mitt Romney, hasn't endorsed Lee. What's-his-name wondered if McMullen had spoken to Romney; McMullen said he hasn't, and said he respects and appreciates Romney's decision to sit this one out.
Lee has said a vote for McMullin is "a vote for the Democrats to keep their majority," and W-H-N wondered if that was correct. McMullin said no.
... look, I'm
building a coalition of Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and members of
third parties to better represent Utah and to help lead our country forward.
And I'm not going to Washington to join a party or to caucus or to play the
party power game. I'm going to represent our coalition.
If he serves all six years, he wouldn't join either party's caucus? He said he'll maintain his independence, and that would help Utah and give it "an added value of influence." After blasting Lee ("He sits on his hands until it's time to vote no and then he goes and complains about our country on cable news."), he said he thinks we've seen
... that the senators in the chamber who are willing to act
with greater independence, serving their constituents, standing up to party bosses,
standing up to extremist factions and special interest groups, they have the
most influence in the chamber. They're more influential, I think, even than the
party bosses. And I want that for Utah.
W-H-N asked about McMullen tweeting in January 2021 that "Not only should Mitch McConnell never be
majority leader again, he shouldn't be minority leader either. It's time for
something new." He said he wouldn't be involved in choosing the leadership, because it's up to the parties to make that decision.
Next, he was asked whether he would have voted for the Inflation Reduction Act. There were things in it he liked, and some that he didn't like, and he would not have voted for it "as written." He thought it didn't do enough about inflation in the short term, and thinks more needs to be done on that front.
...we need leaders and need a Senate who is going to focus on
actually delivering more results to lower inflation. I did like the fact that
it started to allow Medicare to negotiate on prescription drugs. We pay far
more for prescription drugs than we need to in America...
McMullin favored Roe being overturned, but he's expressed concern that extreme laws were being created since that happened; most of the bills that have surfaced since the decision have been designed to make a political point, and that the extreme positions are "tearing the country apart."
...we've got to stand
up to those extremes. But more importantly, we've got to find a more
constructive way forward. And that's about making contraception more available,
doing more to support women, children, and families, and improving education on
this matter. And that's where I'll focus my time.
Of the three candidates we heard from, I prefer McMullin's approach. We do need more people who are there to represent us, not just to stand with their party or protect their own longevity.
See you around campus.
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