The three candidates for Indiana’s open U.S. Senate seat met Tuesday in a debate marked by pointed attacks. Indiana Public Broadcasting’s Brandon Smith reports.
For Republican Todd Young and Democrat Evan Bayh, the debate was as much about their opponent as it was themselves.
Young repeatedly attacked Bayh for his support of Obamacare, which Young calls a “millstone” around the economy.
“What’d you do, Evan, after that?” Young says. “You took the money and ran. Evan Bayh took the money and ran. He joined a major lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., and he represented clients that needed relief from the very problem he created.”
In a section about climate change, Bayh sought to parry Young’s attacks about his record.
“Desperate people do desperate things and clearly Congressman Young is getting pretty desperate,” Bayh says. “It’s not true that I was cap-and-trade; I’m against cap-and-trade. It’s not true that I’ve ever been a lobbyist.”
Libertarian Lucy Brenton sought to distance herself from the other two candidates, seeking to paint them as two sides of the same problematic coin.
“You know, I feel like I need to step away from them a little bit – they’re slinging so much mud and I’m wearing a white suit,” Brenton says.
Tuesday’s meeting was the only Senate debate before the November 8 election day.
