U.S. House debate: What keen observers hope candidates will deliver

“As evidenced by the tumultuous primary elections in both Democratic and Republican parties, I’m looking to see how each candidate addresses the anger and fear being felt by voters in Delaware and across the Country. Specifically, is either candidate truly addressing Delaware’s and the Nation’s economic competitiveness? How do the candidates propose to make Delaware/America more internationally competitive? Do they feel that the TARP, ARRA, Health Care Bill, Financial Reform Bill have fixed our economic problems? Or did these pieces of legislation add to our problems?

While our current economic crisis is front & center, our long term competitiveness requires a well-educated population. What are the candidates opinions/plans for education improvement? Do they believe that reform is necessary? If so, what kind of reform? If not, why do they feel that the system is working well?”

—Charlie Copeland, former state senator and 2008 GOP candidate for Lt. Governor

“I will be listening for specifics on how the candidates will approach the issues facing our country today. For example, what specific programs will be cut and how much will be saved in the effort to reach a balanced budget. With the federal deficit over 1 trillion dollars, platitudes will not suffice in addressing and coming to grips with our bloated federal budget. Anyone can say thay support a balanced federal budget. I will be listening for the candidates to articulate specific program cuts or revenue enhancement measures to achieve a balanced budget.”

—John Flaherty, Delaware Coalition for Open Government president

“I’m looking for the candidates to demonstrate a depth of understanding of all the issues – not just slogans or talking points – and a very high level of conversancy in terms of policy problems and solutions; I’d also like to hear how the candidates’ previous professional experience (specific examples – both private and public sector) suggests they will be effective, independent voices in a Congress of 435 people where party leadership demands fealty.”

—Michael Fleming, New Castle County Republican Party chair

“Yes, to determine their grasp of national issues and to learn their specific positions on those issues; to see how the candidates can interrelate national issues with the particular concerns of Delaware.”

—Sam Hoff, Delaware State University political science professor

“Given the prevalence of intemperance, I’ll be paying most attention to poise under pressure. Is this a candidate, regardless of party, who can bridge gaps, disagree without being disagreeable, and help to get things accomplished?”

—Jim May, Widener Law professor

“I will be interested to see how Urquhart tries to take positions on the issues. During the primary election he positioned himself as the more conservative choice to appeal to activist Republican primary voters. The problem, in theory, is that the general election electorate will be more moderate than the Republican primary electorate. John Carney had the advantage of running without opposition and therefore did not have to shift left of center. It will be interesting to me to see if Urquhart tries to pivot closer to the middle of the spectrum or if he maintains his strategy of offering a distinctly conservative choice to the voters.

In the Republican primary campaign Urquhart framed the election as a choice between a politician (Rollins) and a citizen (himself). Framing himself as a potential citizen legislator allowed him to claim the mantle of anti-establishment and this may have helped him defeat the party-endorsed Rollins in the primary. I am interested to see if Urquhart uses the same frame against Carney and if he does, how Carney responds. Everything I have seen to this point suggests that Urquhart will continue to use this frame to define the difference between himself and Carney and try to cast the election as a choice between the establishment Carney and the outsider Urquhart. Will Carney embrace his record as Lt. Governor as an example of why he is more qualified for the job, or will he try to cast himself as an outsider to Washington as well? Will he choose some sort of hybrid strategy claiming both? Given the national tide that is running against incumbents generally, and Democrats specifically, it will be interesting to see how this strategy plays out in November given Carney’s built in party-registration advantage over Urquhart.

Also, the first Carney television ad ties Urquhart to O’Donnell. The ad features a voiceover along with a picture of Urquhart and O’Donnell holding hands at some sort of event. Clearly, the Carney campaign has made a strategic choice to try to hang O’Donnell around Urquhart. They must feel that she is a net-negative in the campaign. I will be interested to see if Carney pursues this during the debate”

—Jason Mycoff, University of Delaware associate professor of political science

“Twice in our Nation’s history we’ve been in times of great political tumult that rocked & reconfigured the major political parties: the 1850′s over slavery, and the 1930′s over the depression. The ultimate resolution to both of these eras was war — civil and global, respectively. With a rapidly expanding national debt; the growing influence of China, India, & Brazil; and the almost certain acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran (quickly followed by other Middle East states); what opinions do the candidates hold on America’s future role in the world? What are they most concerned with on an international basis? How does the United State avoid being drawn into an armed conflict? Can we?”

—Charlie Copeland, former state senator and 2008 GOP candidate for Lt. Governor

“The United States has thousands of troops stationed overseas. 50,000 in Germany. 26,000 in South Korea, thousands more in Japan and other countries. Germany, Japan and Korea are all prosperous countries and should pay for their own defense needs, not the United States. With the United States stretched thin in fighting 2 wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s time to focus our efforts on those two conflicts, draw down our troops stationed in other countries and transfer the budgetary savings for domestic needs.”

—John Flaherty, Delaware Coalition for Open Government president

“There is considerable interest in the current state of our economy and rightly so. I’d like to see more attention focused on our nation’s economic future: where are we going to be in 10, 15, 20 years relative to the rest of the world and what does that bode for our national security? What are the strategies we need to be implementing now to ensure America’s global leadership in the future? What federal policy needs to be changed to put us on a sound economic footing? And how are we going to tackle the looming entitlement crises of Social Security and Medicare that will surely impact our financial posture and even national security in the coming decades?”

—Michael Fleming, New Castle County Republican Party chair

“Yes, I would like to know which House committees each candidate would want to be appointed to if elected. This will indicate their intended approach to serving the people of Delaware.”

“1. What are your views about whether the U.S. should re-institute the military draft, or should we continue to wage war with volunteers and paramilitary corporations?

2. What are your views about whether the U.S. should adopt a system of public-financed elections? In other words, each primary candidate would receive a set amount of funding, instead of the present system.

3. What are your views about the red state vs. blue state divide that seems to divide even Delaware, evidenced by the state’s Republican primary for the U.S. Senate?

4. If elected, what would you do to help bring a national park, seashore, monument, or wilderness area to Delaware?

5. What are your views about whether and what kind of federal legislation to enact to stem the release of climate-changing carbon into the environment? Cap and trade, or carbon fee, for example?

6. If you are elected, what might be the first piece of legislation you would introduce?”

—Jim May, Widener Law professor

“I have not seen much in the campaign to this point about state-wide issues. There has been a good bit of mud-slinging about housing developments, budgetary shortfalls and both candidate’s resumes. There has also been a good bit about the national economy. I would like to hear the candidates weigh in on concrete proposals for how they will use their position in Washington to improve local education, economic development or healthcare. The most important part of this is the concrete ideas. If I had a chance to ask a question I would ask each candidate to describe a single concrete idea they have for using Delaware’s seat in the House of Representatives to improve local conditions in one of these areas. I would preface the question by asking that neither appeal to the principals that no-doubt support their proposal, but that they focus on a single concrete proposal. The campaign has, in my opinion, been short of concrete positions, and long on principles. In an ideal world, I would ask the concrete proposal question about each of the three policy areas.”

—Jason Mycoff, University of Delaware associate professor of political science