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 4th 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
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 9th 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 4th
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 10th 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.
