MA GOP Primary Debates Held in Fall River for 4th and 9th Districts

Yesterday enthusiastic Republican voters in both the MA 9th and 4th Congressional Districts gathered at the Fall River Elks Lodge to watch two interesting debates between Dr David Steinhof of Fall River (seated left in the photo above and Dr Elizabeth Childs of Brookline, MA; and Adam Chaprales of Barnstable (seated  left in the photo below and Christopher Sheldon of Plymouth

Both debates were sponsored by the Fall River City Committee and the Westport Republican Town Committee and were moderated by Lonnie Brennan of Vote Core Values.Com

Notable in his absence from the first debate between candidates from the 4th Congressional District was Sean Bielat, originally from New York,  who was defeated in 2010 by Barney Frank. No explanation was given to the audience for his decision not to attend this important opportunity for South Coast residents to meet the Republican Primary candidates in person and to hear their views on the issues.

The tone of both debates struck me as surprisingly civil for a Southcoast congressional debate, without the presence of the defensive, feisty and  combative presence of Barney Frank, contrasted with the personal attacks, condescending demeanor, and smirking presence, usually associated with Sean Bielat.

Janine Izzo, a resident of the 4^th District seated in the audience told me during the break, after I observed that it struck me as unusual to attend a debate that lacked those type of vicious personal attacks:

“I like the fact that the candidates discussed things intelligently, which gave the audience a chance to familiarize themselves with the issues at hand”, to which I agreed that it was not only good for the education of the voters in the district but gave the candidates, who hope to represent the GOP in the general election, practice they will need when debating Democrats in a state where the GOP only includes 11% of registered voters, despite the fact that nationally the numbers are much more balanced.   

In the first debate as well as the second,  candidates were asked questions by a select committee, following their introductory remarks, on a wide range of issues including illegal immigration; public sector spending vs private sector spending; the influence and control the United Nations should have over US sovereignty; abortion and Roe vs Wade; Obama Care; energy policy and solutions for economic growth in the South Coast area.

 Both candidates favored enforcement of present immigration laws and opposition to amnesty; cutbacks in public sector spending; policies that enhance growth in the private sector; refusal to sign treaties that turn US sovereignty under control of the United Nations on Environmental issues or control of the seas; repeal and replacement of ObamaCare; an independent energy policy based on traditional use of oil, gas, and coal, as well as projects like the Keystone pipeline, and fracking;

Dr Childs, Brookline psychiatrist, who is the former Commisioner of Mental Health during the Romney administration and who moved to Massachusetts from Ohio 26 years ago, favored giving illegal immigrants a limited time to get their green cards and opposed overturning Roe vs Wade and the defunding of Planned Parenthood., while favoring the decrease of abortions, without explaining how she planned to do that.

Although she favors repeal of ObamaCare she believes all Americans should have health care, even if they choose not to have it, apparently,  She also favors means testing for Medicare, Medicaid, and social security; reduction of spending down to the historical average of 17% of GDP; and the establishment of enterprise zones as part of her economic plan for the District.

Following her closing remarks, in which she reiterated her positions and thanked the Fall River and Westport city and town committees for sponsoring the debates, she expressed her interest in having as many debates as possible, which was an obvious dig at Sean Bielat, who was a no show for the debate, as mentioned above, as well as for all debates in the 2010 primary campaign.

Some believe his lack of live debate experience hurt him in his campaign against the more experienced Barney Frank in 2010, in which many times he appeared inept and unprepared when answering difficult questions.  She also urged members of the audience to get involved in her campaign by contacting her through her website at  

http://www.childsforcongress.com/news.aspx?id=/5039108689376040649.

Some of the answers given by Steinhof, a dentist in Fall River, MA, who has worked his whole life in the private sector  included a belief in strong enforcement of  present laws on immigration and opposition to amnesty; that life begins at conception; Roe vs Wade needs to be overturned;  all aspects of socialized medicine must be opposed;  and a balanced budget must be passed along with significant cuts in spending on bureaucratic agencies including the EPA and the Department of Energy, which he viewed as a hindrance to growth in the private energy sector of the economy.

The newly redistricted 4^th Congressional District includes cities and towns that stretch from the communities of Newton and Brookline in the north to Fall River and Somerset in the South. (http://www.massra.com/images/mauscongdist4.jpg)

Steinhof who is an actual life long resident of the 4^th district and believes he understands the issues facing South coast residents better than any of the other candidates spoke of  South Coast Rail, the Breakpoint Towers which he termed as wasteful, and urged that Fall River develop its potential to become a first class commercial shipping port, before urging residents to volunteer to help his campaign by contacting him through his website at http://www.davidsteinhof.com/

Following a brief intermission, the second debate between candidates for the newly redistricted 9^th District began between Chaprales, who was the youngest selectman ever elected in Sandwich and Sheldon, who is a management consultant and Plymouth County Study Commissioner.

Although this debate took place in a location outside of their district, the two political committees are to be commended for allowing the two cape cod residents to address the concerns of other South Coast residents, from  neighboring towns and cities as well. .

The district representing the Cape and the Islands now includes the heavily democratic New Bedford area in which retiring congressman Barney Frank received god-like devotion during his 30 year reign, particularly from the powerful commercial fishing lobby that never blamed him, for some reason, for the excessive behavior of  environmental extremists carrying out the policies of the Obama administration and the United Nations scheme known as "Agenda 21 and sustainable development", which continues to pose a significant threat to private property rights in Massachusetts as well as in all matters pertaining to the world's oceans.  

So being from New Bedford myself, I listened with great interest to see if they had studied the complexities of the issues affecting New England fishermen. Chaprales twice repeated that regulations on catch shares for lobstermen should be backed be scientific data. “Lobsters are being driven further out to sea  due to the warmer waters, not because of a decrease in the supply of lobsters”, he stated, which is very true.

It was Sheldon however who clearly had done his homework on the whole scenario involving NOAA and the devastating reductions in catch shares announced last week that will further cripple the New Bedford fishing industry. His detailed knowledge of the problems facing the industry was impressive and is certain to help him with residents of the largest city in the district during his campaign.

Many of the other answers given seemed similar to those given by David Steinhof and Elizabeth Childs in the previous debate, but no one in the audience seemed to mind, as both candidates handled the questions confidently and articulately, without attacking each other personally.

On the issue of abortion both seemed to be opposed to Roe vs Wade, although Chaprales sounded very much like Sean Bielat of the 4^th district, who believes the controversial legislation is settled law, which even Barney Frank pointed out in a 2010 debate is incorrect due to the nature of the narrowly divided 5/4 decision, which was based on a previously non existent constitutional right to privacy.

“Abortion is terrible”, Sheldon stated and favored cutting off funding for planned parenthood as well as taking the abortion issue out of the hands of the federal government and sending it back to the states in line with the 10^th amendment  of the US Constitution. Neither however would go as far as to suggest a constitutional amendment outlawing the murder of innocent babies in the womb would be needed to protect the most vulnerable among us.

Sheldon opposed providing a pathway to citizenship  for illegal immigrants and expressed distrust in the United Nations.

Both candidates  believed troops should be withdrawn from Afganistan and supported a strong, independent energy policy in the private sector with less control and interference by the EPA and the Department of Energy.

Additionaly. Chaprales expressed opposition the the Cape Wind project, which is a sensitive issue down on the Cape.

By far the most oft repeated phrase of the afternoon heard in both debates was “ “Government needs to stop picking winners and losers” when discussing the importance of the  free market in growing the private sector of the economy

In closing, moderator Lonnie Brennan closed the debate appropriately by encouraging the audience to “latch on to a candidate that you like and get involved in their campaigns”.

In retrospect it was a great afternoon for democracy on the Massachusetts South Coast. It's just too bad that not every republican candidate running for congress held the residents of one of the most economically depressed and neglected areas in the State with as much respect and consideration as the four candidates, who put their fears of making mistakes aside, to courageously debate their opponents in the first real opportunity to return Republican representation to the US Congress from the Massachusetts South Coast in many decades.