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Ferguson, rivals debate the issues
By MICHELLE MASKALY, Home News Tribune from the Web, October 26, 2004
North Branch, Oct 25 -- 7TH DISTRICT: Republican Rep. Mike Ferguson and his two challengers, Democrat Steve Brozak and independent Matthew Angus Williams, squared off in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Raritan Valley Community College yesterday afternoon.
During the 60-minute debate in North Branch, Ferguson continually referred to his voting record in Congress and what he has accomplished, while Brozak linked him to President Bush, the war in Iraq and the nation's security.
Williams, frequently agreeing with Brozak, touted his plan for interactive democracy where constituents could view a piece of legislation and tell him how they want him to vote.
The three are vying in New Jersey's 7th Congressional District that includes parts of Middlesex, Somerset, Union and Hunterdon counties.
Each candidate was given a 90-second opening statement followed by a rotating round of questions from a media panel.
Moderator Jim Flachsenhaar, executive editor of the Courier News, then asked the candidates a series of questions submitted by audience members prior to the debate.
Each candidate was given another 90 seconds for closing remarks.
Williams said he would have liked to see Osama bin Laden captured before Saddam Hussein and questioned whether or not the president should have waited a little longer before invading Iraq.
Ferguson, responding to the same question, said he voted for authorization of force in Iraq after the president gave several reasons for the necessity, one being weapons of mass destruction.
Although some of the intelligence may not have been correct, Ferguson said the president was working with the information he had at the time.
Brozak said he also would have voted to use force in Iraq based on the same information, but would have been "asking questions to ensure we had a plan."
Brozak accused Ferguson of allowing pharmaceutical companies to buy his votes in Congress, and Williams said there is a need to lower the cost of health care by passing campaign-finance laws that prohibit pharmaceutical companies from contributing to political candidates.
Ferguson said the most alarming health-care statistic is that people without health care are people who have jobs.
He supports an association health plan that allows small businesses to band together and purchase health-care insurance for their respective employees.
On security, Ferguson said Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has a different view on terrorism than President Bush.
"We need a post-9/11 view, not a pre-9/11 view," said Ferguson, adding he agrees with former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, who said the country is safer today than it was before 9/11, but there is still more work to be done.
But Brozak asked how the United States could be safer today when a National Guard unit from New Jersey is leaving for Iraq and will not be back until 2006.
Williams, on the other hand, used the question as an opportunity to criticize the current administration and show a sign of support for Kerry.
"I do not approve of the Dick Cheney politics of fear," said Williams, making reference to recent television commercials that feature a pack of wolves. "I believe John Kerry can do the job."
In closing remarks, Brozak pointed out a host of differences between himself and Ferguson, while the congressman gave a laundry list detailing the amount of money he's brought back to the district in a variety of areas.
Williams continued to push for the two major political parties to "move forward to serious campaign-finance reform."
The debate was sponsored by the Courier News, Somerset County Business Partnership, League of Woman Voters, Somerset County Employer Legislative Committee, Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce and Raritan Valley Community College. |
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