Posted on 10/20/2006 2:18:37 PM PDT by WinOne4TheGipper
SAN ANTONIO — In a debate telecast statewide, Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison repeated her call Thursday for the United States to maintain its commitment to stabilizing Iraq rather than "cutting and running because times are rough."
Hutchison, a senator for more than 13 years, also said she would not have voted for the United States to invade the country in 2003 if she'd known there were no weapons of mass destruction there.
Barbara Ann Radnofsky Democratic challenger says Texas needs fresh leadership.
Scott Lanier Jameson Libertarian says labeling enemies incites challenge.
Responding to a reporter's question, Hutchison said: "If I had known then what I know now about the weapons of mass destruction, which was a key reason I voted to go in there, I would not vote to go into Iraq the way we did.
"And I have to say I don't think the president would have asked for that vote either," Hutchison said, saying President Bush was "trying to make sure that America was not hit with another 9/11, with a weapon of mass destruction."
Democrat Barbara Ann Radnofsky seized on Hutchison's reflection, suggesting that Hutchison was among senators who failed to read intelligence information that would have illuminated the likelihood that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
"What a telling, telling comment from my colleague," said Radnofsky, who favors setting a timetable for taking U.S. troops out of Iraq.
Hutchison said it would be irresponsible to withdraw because Iraq has become "a terrorist breeding ground." Referring to Radnofsky, she added: "This is a very big point of difference between us."
The hourlong debate was historic from its start because this year marks the first time two women represent the major parties in a Texas U.S. Senate race. The pair met for the first time Thursday in the lobby of KLRN-TV, where the debate co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Texas was taped shortly before being broadcast statewide on public TV stations and C-SPAN.
The two were joined by Scott Lanier Jameson, 40, the Libertarian nominee who closed with a plea to voters to consider all Libertarian candidates.
Jameson expressed discomfort with the U.S. government labeling other nations such as Iran as enemies.
"It makes us sound like we're developing a checklist of who we're going to take on next," he said. "It's almost as if we're challenging them."
Hutchison, who has been the front-runner, fell into no outright gaffes in the nine-question event, with the only surprise being her hindsight on Iraq.
She and Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer making her first bid for elective office, vigorously spelled out differences they have aired during the campaign.
Radnofsky criticized Hutchison for voting to build what she dubbed an impractical 700-mile fence along stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border. She said that, unlike Hutchison, she favors revising a law creating a prescription drug benefit for senior citizens so the government can negotiate lower drug prices with manufacturers.
Hutchison defended an immigration proposal she has outlined with Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana, that envisions the government establishing a more secure border before launching a system requiring illegal immigrants to leave the United States and apply at out-of-country centers for permission to return to work here. She called it a "starting point" toward compromise in Congress.
Jameson said that if a wall is going to be built, it should be around flood-prone New Orleans.
Hutchison, 63, filled the Senate seat long held by Lloyd Bentsen in 1993. She won election to her first full term a year later.
The former state treasurer and Texas House member has frequently said her dream is to serve as Texas governor, although she has passed up chances to run, including last year when she yielded to Gov. Rick Perry, who is seeking re-election next month.
Hutchison said last month that she decided to seek one more term only because of her seniority on the Appropriations Committee and within the Republican Party ranks.
"I've been able to do many things for Texas that would be hard to accomplish as a junior member," Hutchison said. "But this is certainly going to be my last term."
Hutchison conceded that she has backed off on a pledge in the early 1990s to serve no more than two terms, but said she still supports amending the Constitution to hold all senators to limits.
"I want to do what I think is best for Texas," she said.
Radnofsky, 50, left her partner position at Vinson & Elkins to campaign. Eclipsed by Hutchison in fundraising, she's tried to make up for the gulf by enlisting volunteers, having a frequently updated Web site and stressing a 40-page comparison of her positions on issues to what she considers Hutchison's poor record.
Radnofsky, who wore a purple blouse, said: "What this country needs for Texas is leadership that's new and fresh, that stands about 5-foot-9 and looks good in purple."
Just wanted to repeat what you said in bold---because nobody seems to want to face the bald facts before us.
Last I checked we found WMD's. It's just that the Dems keep
moving the goal posts.
/Salute
This lost your vote?
I love all you cut and run Conservatives...Just vote for a minor party or SIT this one out. While Nancy and Harry RUN US IN THE GROUND...
THAT WILL TEACH US A REAL LESSON WON'T IT????????
The UN said recently he had them. Any chance she was misquoted?
http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/new/documents/quarterly_reports/s-2006-701.pdf
The statement that was the basis of the headline was the last straw. With or without WMDs, Saddam Hussein deserved to be taken out. Her pandering lost my vote. She's going to have to work awfully hard in her next term if she wants my vote for whatever office she decides to pursue next.
We are all so screwed.
I am not a cut and run conservative. I have stated repeatedly on this thread that if this were a close race, I would vote for KBH. It is not and will not become a close race. KBH will win with over 60% of the vote.
what a Cowardly RINO.
Apparently there is a bunch of that stuff strewn all over Iraq. The Iraq Survey Group said that there was no NEW WMD production but the dimwits seem to think the other stuff he had just vaporized into thin air.
Hey, don't look at me and pretend that I'm an impediment to anyone's plan to "defeat the scourge of Islam" . . . I'm just a knucklehead who posts on FreeRepublic.
Anyone who is still delusional enough to believe that the U.S. has ever had any intention of "defeating the scourge of Islam" obviously missed the president's remarks a few years ago about that marvelous religion of peace.
And anyone who is still delusional enough to believe that the U.S. has ever had any intention of "fighting for freedom in the Middle East" has obviously forgotten that the first military campaign between the U.S. and Iraq (one of the most overtly secular Islamic countries in the Middle East, BTW) began when the U.S. put hundreds of thousands of troops in harm's way to keep one royal family on a throne and restore another one.
It is necessary to keep reminding the dems that there were 16 (17?) U.N. resolutions ignored. That we were enforcing the resolutions or else there was not point to the U.N.
Indeed, considering the aftermath, there is no point to the U.N., since the wealthist and powerful have done nothing to abate the problem.
I believe we've traveled this road before....with Perot, and we got clinton.
Okay. It is good that you aren't in charge. Nor am I for that matter. So who cares? Your comment was off base. This has nothing to do with Wilson and doesn't resemble his plan. We'll "build nations" or someone else will. I prefer it be us.
You make a very common mistake by breaking history into small, discrete intervals of time when in fact there is a much bigger underlying trend here.
What you are witnessing here is nothing more than the latest phase of an undertaking that began in the 1940s when the U.S. embarked on an effort to relieve Europe's colonial powers of their possessions and establish modern, secular forms of government in these places. It didn't work in Vietnam, and I have no confidence that it is going to work in the Middle East, either.
ROTFLMAO
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