Last night was the last debate before early voting in the Senate primaries. Ed Bryant, Bob Corker, and Van Hilleary all duked it out. I had to work during the debate (so no TV for me); I tried watching online but CN's network is retarded and it is hard to view any type of streaming media. From the parts that I did hear, it sounded as though this race is a two-man fight against Corker; both Bryant and Hilleary spent a good deal of time trying to discredit the former Chattanooga mayor. The abortion issue was mentioned directly. Bryant said that he was firmly pro-life and mentioned his endorsement by the Tennessee Right to Life. Hilleary said that he would support any pro-life legislation, containing exceptions or no exceptions. Corker said he was pro-life (which has been continually contested) but supported rape and incest exceptions. Bryant and Corker were against raising the minimum wage while Hilleary was in support of a raise. One interesting thing happened, though, regarding the release of income tax forms. Byrant kept pushing Corker about releasing income tax documents to the public; Corker, of course, said that he had released all documents. During the next question, though, one of the moderators cleared it up by saying that he had saw the tax returns of Bryant and Hilleary but made clear that Corker did not provide any schedules or forms. Another touchy time came when debating an email by Republican State Representative Chris Clem. Corker was upset because the email alleged that he was not a true conservative. The candidates keeping fussing, but Corker finally came out and said "I never said that I cut taxes - ever..." This goes against his constant reminders that he lowered taxes in Chattanooga. Hum, that's kind of fishy. I think this primary could be interesting. I just wonder if Bryant and Hilleary supporters will divide the Republicans and allow Corker to get the nomination. Rob Huddleston has full details here; this is a great round-up of where the candadites sand on the issues. KnoxNews has more here.
tagged 06election, politics, tennessee
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