Ohio's candidates for Senate offer voters clear choice
2006-10-02
Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer
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rss feedWith their U.S. Senate race at a statistical dead heat, Mike DeWine and his equally feisty challenger Sherrod Brown tried to make the choice easier for voters Sunday by disagreeing on nearly everything in a televised debate.
DeWine, the Republican incumbent, characterized himself for the television audience on NBC's "Meet the Press" as a politician who crosses the aisle to get things done. He said Brown was on the fringe of his own party, with a "very, very slim record" of accomplishment.
"You just want to run from your record, that's your problem," DeWine charged.
Brown, the Democratic congressman from Avon, said he was unafraid to challenge authority, even when it meant disagreeing with his own party's president over trade. And he said DeWine caves in to everyone from President Bush to pharmaceutical companies, which hurts the middle class.
Saying DeWine is running unfair ads that suggest Brown voted against body armor for troops, when he in fact backed alternative measures to provide body armor, Brown said: "He should be ashamed of himself for that."
The candidates interrupted one another frequently during the 35-minute session, moderated by "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert. Their stylistic differences were just as pointed; DeWine sparred while smiling, saying to his opponent at one point: "You are absolutely unbelievable." (For debate differences on key points, see Page One.)
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