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Posted on 09/30/2002 5:09:57 PM PDT by GailA
The Tennessean
Bredesen, Hilleary spar in morning debate
By Bonna de la Cruz Staff Writer
Democrat Phil Bredesen and Republican Van Hilleary, candidates for governor, sparred on a morning talk radio show today, belittling each other's political records and leadership abilities.
Hilleary, a U.S. congressman, said Bredesen is ''arrogant'' to not take the income tax issue off the table in a second term as governor. He said Bredesen would be just like Gov. Don Sundquist, who switched to supporting an income tax during his second term.
Bredesen, Nashville's former mayor, said he opposes an income tax and said a Hilleary ad calling his ''Phil BredeSundquist'' is ''silly and kind of childish.''
''Eight years is a long, long time, and I think it's crazy to make detailed predictions,'' Bredesen said, saying there is no way to know the state of the economy and new technology, how much public schools have improved and the affect of terrorism on the state that far down the line.
Hilleary responded, ''I can guarantee you that there is nothing that would happen in eight years that would make me say we need an income tax.''
Bredesen questioned the depth of Hilleary's opposition, saying the congressman has said he supports a study commission on a flat tax and would support an income tax approved by voters.
The candidates in the Nov. 5 election disagreed on a variety of issues during the hour-long forum on Teddy Bart's Roundtable on WAMB-AM (1160). Independent candidate Ed Sanders, a Nashville minister, is scheduled to appear on the radio show tomorrow.
Hilleary said he would roll back the state's sales tax as the economy improves. Bredesen said the focus should move off the state's tax structure and on to economic growth instead.
Bredesen said as mayor for eight years, he has proven his leadership ability by taking sometimes unpopular stands, such as supporting new downtown development through an arena, coliseum and library or recruiting new industry, and convincing people of their worthiness.
He said Hilleary has not had that kind of experience.
Hilleary responded that Nashville's Fraternal Order of Police voted to endorse Hilleary by a 71% margin. ''They didn't care for his leadership style,'' Hilleary said.
The men also had biting exchanges over education.
Hilleary said Bredesen's introduction of a core curriculum program in Nashville schools resulted in lower test scores. Hilleary said he would not promote core curriculum.
Bredesen said he continues to back core curriculum and that Hilleary has manipulated the numbers, excluding the scores of first and second graders, who showed soaring scores.
Another point of contention was the use of personal funds in the campaign. There is a state law prohibiting gubernatorial candidates from spending more than $250,000 in their own campaign, but the state attorney general has said the law is unconstitutional.
Bredesen said he would not rule out drawing from his own personal wealth to pay for political commercials to counteract Hilleary's attack and negative ads, financed in part through fund raising by the president, vice president and former President Bush.
''That is a bunch of bunk suggesting because we have raised money and put ads on the air lets you put yourself above the law and lets you choose the laws to obey,'' Hilleary said.
Bredesen responded, ''You know that's bunk. The law that was passed is unconstitutional.''
Both candidates said they did not support a California measure that would enhance paid leave for employees to care for sick relatives or after the birth or adoption of a child.
But their opinions differed on the proposed uranium enrichment plant in Hartsville.
Bredesen said he had ''enormous reservations'' because he believed much of the equipment investment would be made out of state, the number of new jobs would be small and the potential for problems too great.
Hilleary said he does not have great concern and said the people of Trousdale County should decide whether they want it. He said the state holds the responsibility of putting in strong safety measures and ensuring that new jobs and spin-off companies come with the plant.
The segment will be broadcast in Nashville on Channel 9 at 5 p.m.
Bredesen urged to keep wallet closed By ROB JOHNSON Staff Writer
But Democrat won't rule out spending to fight Hilleary ads
While the slick gubernatorial advertising campaigns battle one another during the nightly newscasts, the rival partisan camps are waging another noisy skirmish about the money that fuels those 30-second spots.
The state Republican Party, remembering the $6 million in personal wealth that Democrat Phil Bredesen pumped into his unsuccessful 1994 gubernatorial effort, is calling on him to honor a state law that forbids a candidate from putting more than $250,000 into a campaign.
Meantime, Bredesen keeps watching as sleek Air Force planes continue delivering President Bush and Vice President Cheney to Tennessee to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the GOP's Senate candidate, Lamar Alexander, and for Bredesen's general-election opponent, Van Hilleary.
In statewide polls last week and this week, pollsters showed that the race between Hilleary and Bredesen had closed to a virtual dead heat.
Hilleary has started a TV ad that ends with a poke at the former Nashville mayor and the Tennessee governor: ''Phil BredeSundquist,'' it calls Hilleary's opponent.
As the race intensifies, Republicans are enjoying asking Bredesen to remember the 1995 state law that limits personal loans to campaigns.
But it is a law that the state attorney general has determined is unconstitutional. Tennessee's Registry of Election Finance says as much on its Web site and in its literature. Even though the law is on the books, the state doesn't enforce it.
State Attorney General Paul Summers' office analyzed the Campaign Contribution Limits Act of 1995 in November and based its conclusion on the 1976 U.S. Supreme Court decision Buckley vs. Valeo.
''In that case, the Court ruled that a federal statute limiting a candidate's right to make campaign expenditures from his or her personal funds violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,'' reads the attorney general's opinion.
So Bredesen says he is reserving the option of putting his personal money into the campaign, especially now that Hilleary's ads are taking strong shots at him.
''It hasn't come to that yet,'' Bredesen said. ''But this is the kind of thing that I was saying, that if that kind of thing happens, then I certainly feel that it's a very good justification for putting money in a campaign — so you can respond to these kinds of things.''
The Republicans argue that the Tennessee law is still on the books and that Bredesen shouldn't surpass the cap.
''There's really no justification for breaking a law,'' said state Republican Party spokeswoman Elizabeth Phillips. ''Until it is deemed not the law of the land anymore, it should be considered, and it should be abided by.
''It's also important to realize that the law was written in response to Phil Bredesen, who had put more than $6 million in the 1994 gubernatorial campaign,'' Phillips said.
MY NOTE: BOTH HOUSES ARE DEM CONTROLED IN TN, WHICH MEANS THE DEMS THEMSELVES WROTE THIS LAW
State election records show that Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Henry, whom Hilleary defeated in the Aug. 1 primary, lent his campaign $297,810, which is above the limit in the law.
The Henry contributions, Phillips said, don't represent a GOP double standard.
''No, it doesn't. This law was to keep Phil Bredesen from plunking millions of dollars into his campaign again.''
The most recent financial disclosures for the campaigns show that on Sept. 15 Bredesen's campaign had $1.1 million in cash on hand; Hilleary's had more than $779,000. It is money the two raised from other sources.
Now that the general election battle is under way, Bredesen, the man who made his millions in the health-care industry, still is considering the possibility of writing his campaign a big check.
''It's against the law,'' said Hilleary spokeswoman Jennifer Coxe. ''That's the reason he shouldn't do it, and it applies to anybody running for state office.''
So is the latest Hilleary ad enough to cause Bredesen to start putting his own money into the race?
''Conceivably,'' Bredesen said Wednesday after the ad started airing. He immediately launched a response ad on TV stations across the state.
''I've put zero money in this campaign. I'm certainly not going to let the president (Bush) come in here and raise money for (Hilleary) to attack me and then stand here with my hands in my pockets,'' Bredesen said. ''I don't think anybody reasonable would expect me to.''
Rob Johnson can be reached at 615-664-2162 or at rhjohnson@tennessean.com.
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