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"U.S. Senate candidates Martha Coakley, Scott Brown, spar in feisty debate as poll shows gap narrowing"(MassLive 1/8/10)

Sanders · Diamond

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Massachusetts U.S. Senate candidates Martha Coakley, Scott Brown clash on federal stimulus, taxes, health care

By Dan Ring

January 08, 2010, 10:04PM

The Republican photo by Michael S. GordonDemocrat Martha M. Coakley, left, greets Republican Scott P. Brown prior to the start of their debate Friday in the studio at WGBY-TV, Channel 57 in Springfield.

This is an updated version of a story first posted Friday at 5:16 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD - Democrat Martha M. Coakley confronted Republican Scott P. Brown on stimulus spending, taxes and health care in a feisty, free-wheeling debate in Springfield between the candidates in the Jan. 19 election for U.S. Senate.

Coakley, the state’s attorney general, was more aggressive in challenging Brown than in three prior debates, after a new poll this week showed Brown trailing her by 9 percentage points.

At the end of the hour-long debate, Coakley and Brown clashed on tax cuts approved under former President George W. Bush and whether Congress should allow those cuts to expire next year as scheduled.

“Just so I’m clear, so we get a simple answer, you would let the top 2 percent keep the tax cuts they got during the Bush-Cheney administration?” Coakley said to Brown. “That’s a yes or no.”

“I’m not going to play the yes or no game,” Brown said.

“If you can’t answer yes or no, then I don’t want an answer, thanks,” Coakley said.

Coakley, 56, wants the tax cuts to disappear for households with more than $250,000 in income, while Brown wants to extend the cuts for all people.

Brown, 50, said many businesses and people benefit from the cuts, which includes a reduction in the capital gains tax.

Joseph L. Kennedy The third candidate in the race, independent Joseph L. Kennedy, a vice president of information technology at State Street Corp. in Boston, was often overshadowed by Coakley and Brown.

Kennedy, 38, a libertarian, used the debate to push his ideas for dramatically reducing taxes and bureaucracy in Washington.

The three are running to fill the seat of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who died of brain cancer in August.

The debate took place in the studio of WGBY-TV, Channel 57 in Springfield, and aired Friday night on the public television station. It is also scheduled to be shown 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

James J. Madigan, program host for Channel 57 and the moderator, gave the participants a free hand, creating some crisp exchanges.

Coakley defended her support for the $787 billion federal stimulus law, saying it helped the nation avoid an economic catastrophe. She said the law saved jobs and that more stimulus money in the state will be released.

“We need to do more than just do what Scott says we should do, which is do exactly nothing,” Coakley said.

More . . . including a video clip.
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-- Edited by Sanders on Saturday 9th of January 2010 12:27:08 PM

Sanders · Diamond

BostonHerald

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Senate race intensifies in contentious debate

By Hillary Chabot
Saturday, January 9, 2010

Photo by AP

UP FOR DEBATE: Senate contenders Martha Coakley, Scott Brown, right, and Joseph L. Kennedy faced off yesterday in Springfield, with just over a week to go until the special election.

SPRINGFIELD - A fiery Attorney General Martha Coakley lashed out at state Sen. Scott Brown yesterday in the most contentious debate yet of the U.S. Senate race, as a recent poll shows the two are separated by only single digits.

“This was clearly more one-on-one,” said Brown (R-Wrentham) after the Springfield showdown.

Brown still demanded Coakley agree to a debate with only him. Independent candidate Joseph L. Kennedy remained mostly on the sidelines yesterday.

A Rasmussen poll recently showed that Brown was within 9 points of Coakley in the election, numbers that Coakley dismissed yesterday and said didn’t affect her debate style.

“I don’t agree with those numbers,” Coakley said. “I think everyone will see where we are on Jan. 19.”

An unusually aggressive Coakley slammed Brown during the hourlong debate for everything from highlighting her call to raise taxes to his health-care plan, saying that Brown “pulls numbers out of nowhere that he can’t support.”

Brown shot back, blasting Coakley for her repeated attempts to tie him to former President George W. Bush.

“The whole Bush (and Vice President Dick) Cheney referrals all the time, that’s old. That joke’s old,” Brown said, later needling Coakley for trying to brush off the tax issue.

“There is no one in the audience who thinks Martha is a tax cutter,” Brown said.

Coakley later cornered Brown on his stance on former President Bush’s tax cuts, telling him to answer “yes or no” as to whether he would maintain the current cuts.

“It’s not a yes or no answer, and I’m not going to play a yes or no game,” Brown said.

“If you’re not going to say yes or no, then I don’t want to hear your answer. Thanks,” Coakley said.

More at: Source: BostonHerald.com

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-- Edited by Sanders on Saturday 9th of January 2010 01:33:11 PM

Hillarysworld

U.S. Senate candidates Martha Coakley, Scott Brown, spar in feisty debate as poll shows gap narrowing

By Dan Ring

January 08, 2010, 5:16PM

Massachusetts U.S. Senate candidates Martha Coakley, Scott Brown clash on federal stimulus, taxes, health care

By Dan Ring

January 08, 2010, 10:04PM

BostonHerald

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Senate race intensifies in contentious debate

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