Evan Bayh, Todd Young 'sling mud' in Senate debate
Indiana’s Senate race got personal Tuesday.
After weeks of attacking each other in campaign commercials, former Sen. Evan Bayh and GOP Rep. Todd Young directly accused each other of not representing Hoosiers’ interests in the sole debate of their campaign at WFYI studios in Indianapolis.
Young repeatedly charged Bayh, a Democrat, with following the orders of Washington insiders and looking out for himself.
"Evan Bayh took the money and ran," Young said after criticizing Bayh's vote for the Affordable Care Act. "He joined a major lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., and he represented clients that needed relief from the very problem he created from Obamacare."
Bayh said Young has voted against the needs of veterans, seniors and workers who are losing their jobs to overseas competition. And he accused Young of lying about his record.
"Congressman Young has told so many whoppers here tonight, it's hard to keep track," Bayh said at one point.
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He defended himself against Young's charges, including an allegation that he wanted to strip gun rights.
"I support your Second Amendment rights to bear arms," Bayh said. "Unless you are a known terrorist, have been convicted in a crime of a violent felony or have been adjudicated to be insane, you've got no problem from me."
Young, as he has throughout the campaign, frequently referenced his experience in the U.S. Marine Corps., insisting he's better prepared to combat the Islamic State and stabilize the Middle East.
"I have real-world experience here," Young said. "I haven't just sat in committee rooms and monitored this situation. I actually understand what a Marine on the ground goes through. I've seen generals and admirals struggle with different situations."
He accused Bayh of skipping hearings of the Senate Armed Services Committee and spending 60 days during his last year in office "shopping for a job as a lobbyist as opposed to being vigilant in this war on terror."
Bayh accused Young of voting to cut funding for treatment of post traumatic stress disorder, suicide prevention and other health care needs of veterans.
Indiana Senate race is No. 2 in TV ad volume
"Last time I checked, Congressman Young is in Congress," Bayh said. "So if you don’t like Congress, then maybe you shouldn’t vote for Congressman Young."
Libertarian Lucy Brenton, who is running a longshot third-party candidacy, injected extra energy into a debate that was not lacking in it. Brenton attacked both candidates equally while arguing for less government involvement in virtually every instance.
"You probably don't know who I am because I haven't spent $30 million to win a job that pays under $200,000 a year," she said, noting the massive spending in the closely watched Senate contest.
She advocated during the debate for legalizing commercial hemp to help Indiana's farmers and told reporters afterwards that she supports legalizing marijuana for medicinal and recreational use.
The race for the seat held by retiring GOP Sen. Dan Coats is one of the most competitive in the country and will help determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate next year.
More ad money has been spent in the contest in the past month than in all but one other Senate race in the country, according to an independent analysis released Tuesday. About $30 million has been spent on the race, with about two-thirds coming from national parties and other outside groups.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced Monday the campaign is directing about $500,000 to Indiana to help the Democratic Party get out the vote for the Senate contest and other races.
Nearly $30M spent in Bayh-Young Senate race
Referencing that support, Young said Bayh will be a rubber stamp for Clinton if the two Democrats are elected. Bayh said he doesn't agree with Clinton on every issue, including the Obama administration's restriction of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Young declined after the debate to name an issue on which he disagrees with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
"Tonight is about Evan Bayh versus Todd Young," he said.
Two public polls released this month – Monmouth University and the Hoosier Survey – show Bayh has 6-percentage-point lead over Young.
Young spent much of his time turning the debate into a referendum on Bayh's vote in favor of the Affordable Care Act, hammering on the law's unpopularity.
"Hoosiers pleaded with him to vote against this law," Young said, noting that it got through a key procedural move in the Senate by one vote.
Bayh said there are aspects of the law he would change, including a proposal Young has authored to increase the number of hours someone must work before an employer has to offer health insurance. But Bayh said Young would get rid of good parts of the law, including its expansion of the Medicare drug benefit and preventing insurance companies from denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition.
Bayh attacked Young's support for trade deals, accusing him of now opposing a pending trade deal with pacific nations because the Trans Pacific Partnership has become unpopular.
"He was for the TPP until he had a deathbed conversion in the last couple of weeks when he saw which way the political winds were blowing," Bayh said.
Young criticized Bayh for voting to permanently normalize trade relations with China, which he said unleashed a flood of outsourcing to China.
“That’s not consistent with Hoosier values so I wonder where Evan might have heard it,” Young said. “Perhaps he heard it from D.C. insiders, his neighbors in D.C. where he lives.”
Brenton, the Libertarian, summed up the tone between the two major-party candidates.
"I feel like I need to step away from them a little bit," she said, moving away from the lectern. "They're slinging so much mud, and I'm wearing a white suit."