Wilton Bulletin
Candidates for Congress: Fourth District race comes to Wilton
Oct 19, 2006

There was some rolling of eyes, pointing of fingers and raising of voices as candidates for the Fourth District U.S. Congress seat met for the ninth time to debate the issues.

Three candidates — Congressman Christopher Shays, the Republican incumbent; Diane Farrell, a Democrat, and Phil Maymin, a Libertarian — showed up at the event in Wilton sponsored by the Leagues of Women Voters of Wilton, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston and Westport.

As Ms. Farrell noted, after nine debates, the candidates could have written the scripts of their opponents, and each candidate was quick to come back to their basic message regardless of the question being asked.

For Mr. Shays — his main contention — asked as a question repeatedly throughout the debate, was whether Ms. Farrell was offering solutions, or just seeking to criticize?

Ms. Farrell opened and closed her comments during the night by asking the audience to consider if the votes Mr. Shays has cast have helped the country, and when he has voted against the Bush administration, has it made a difference? She also asked if the Democrats should be given control of the House to act as a check on the Bush administration.

Mr. Maymin said that no matter which party is in power, the natural tendency of both Democrats and Republicans is to build a bigger, more invasive government. A Libertarian would fight such growth tooth and nail, he said.

Format

The debate was structured as a question and answer forum, with the League providing questions, and also posing written questions submitted by the audience.

Candidates could spend as little or as much time as they wished to respond to a question. Monitor was Kay Maxwell, former president of the League’s state and national organizations. The candidates would also have as little or as much time to respond to a fellow candidate’s remarks. By the end, all candidates were supposed to have spoken nearly the same amount of time.

Ms. Farrell said a vote for Mr. Shays is a vote to “support the status quo.”

She said the budget deficit the country faces is the “largest deficit in history,” and that’s after it “inherited a huge budget surplus.”

Iraq — one of the few times it was brought up — was a war she wouldn’t have supported, she said.

Mr. Maymin received the most applause during the debate, something the moderator had attempted to discourage until the end of the debate. He sat in between Ms. Farrell and Mr. Shays, calling their discussion “bickering” and evidence of why there should not just be Republicans and Democrats in Congress, but more parties because more could get accomplished.

“It’s one person whining that the other is whining,” Mr. Maymin said to laughter. “It’s like an old married couple.”

His stance during the debate was, that as the third-party candidate, he could make a change. During a question about the Patriot Act — which he vehemently opposes — Mr. Maymin summed up his belief about big government.

“If lawmakers cannot protect our rights, then we need less lawmakers, not less rights,” he said.

During the debate Mr. Shays admonished Ms. Farrell for not offering any answers to the problems in the country.

“Have you heard her offer any solutions?” Mr. Shays said during his closing statements. An audience member shouted yes.

Mr. Shays cited his accomplishments after 19 years in Congress, including his service as co-chair of the Friends of Animals Caucus and the Non-proliferation Task Force. He said he also helped create the Department of Homeland Security and the 9/11 Commission.

The race for this seat has made national headlines and newscasts. Earlier this week, CNN interviewed Ms. Farrell and Mr. Shays; the two had run against one another two years ago, with Ms. Farrell losing by four percentage points.

According to a Zogby poll released by Reuters earlier this month, Ms. Farrell has pulled ahead of Mr. Shays by five percentage points. However, another poll conducted by the University of Connecticut puts Mr. Shays ahead by seven points.

Mr. Maymin refutes the results of all the polls, saying they are “misleading” because respondents were not given his name as an option.

Nuclear weapons

With the nuclear test by North Korea confirmed by the United States, one question from the night was how the United States should address the situation.

“A nuclear threat is the greatest threat our country can face,” Mr. Maymin said. “Deterrence does work.”

If other counties understand that the United States can bomb them, then it’s easier to keep threats away.

“That is not an option we should ever table,” Mr. Maymin said. He added sanctions don’t work. “The only way to ensure peace on earth is liberty.”

Mr. Shays said he supported the administration’s handling of the nuclear talks with North Korea, but would like to see more being done to talk with North Korea to encourage disarmament.

“Give the administration credit for outing the North Koreans and Iranians,” Mr. Shays said. He said the administration knows it can’t be just the United States and North Korea at the bargaining table. “We need Japan at the table, China at the table, South Korea at the table, and we need Russia at the table.”

“The argument that you just heard from Chris Shays is ‘let’s give the Bush administration credit — the North Koreans just detonated a nuclear device and Bush outed them,’ ” Ms. Farrell said.

She said the current administration’s policy has failed as have the six-party talks.

“You’re better off talking to your enemies than your friends,” Ms. Farrell said. “I’d rather talk, talk, talk than war, war, war — to quote Winston Churchill.”

A quick, single clap came from the audience.

Lobbyists

The first question posed to the candidates regarded lobbying and what should be done, if anything, to reduce the influence of lobbyists.

“I believe members of Congress need to be held to higher standards,” Mr. Shays said.

He said he led a push to limit the gifts a member of Congress could take from lobbyists.

Mr. Shays said he is attempting to spearhead legislation to make it illegal for Congress to accept any gifts.

“The problem comes from the fact that the government has so much power,” Mr. Maymin said.

Let’s not ban lobbyists he said, after all, citizens are lobbyists, he said.

“Shrink the size and scope of the federal government,” Mr. Maymin said.

Ms. Farrell said that something needs to be done about lobbyists.

“There are 65 lobbyists for each member of Congress,” she said.

Gun control

Mr. Maymin said one issue where he really stands out from his two opponents is gun control. He said guns save more lives than they take and as long as guns are used for protection, then there shouldn’t be a ban.

“There’s no question that we need to do more about gun control,” Ms. Farrell said, adding that Republicans are so closely tied with the National Rifle Association that it’s difficult to expect gun legislation to move forward.

“Did you hear any solutions?” asked Mr. Shays.

He then read from a list of specific changes he would like to see, such as a ban on large ammunition magazines, and making child safety locks on the guns mandatory.

Ms. Farrell, in her rebuttal, said she could have easily read a list of fixes, the problem is that Mr. Shays cannot push these options because his party is in power and is blocking the legislation.

Patriot Act

“I’m a strong supporter of the Patriot Act,” Mr. Shays said. “I believe the Cold War is over and I believe the world isn’t a safer place.”

He said the government having the ability to take a look at people’s activities will help law enforcement know and prevent terrorist threats.

“I regret we have not had a meaningful debate” on this, Mr. Shays said.

Mr. Maymin said the act does not work.

“We have a federal government for one purpose only, to secure our rights,” he said, adding “they cannot do that job. Their solution is to give you less liberties.”

Ms. Farrell did not spell out that she was a supporter of the Patriot Act, but did lend support to the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) courts.

“I want to give our government the authority,” to do what it needs to do, Ms. Farrell said.

Enemy combatants

President Bush signed a bill into law on Tuesday, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which makes it legal for the C.I.A. to continue operating torture facilities in undisclosed, foreign countries, and for the writ of habeaus corpus to be suspended for individuals who are designated “enemy combatants” against the U.S.

Mr. Shays said it’s not a torture bill, and it helps keep citizens safe.

“This isn’t keeping us safer,” Ms. Farrell, said, adding she doesn’t support the bill.

Mr. Maymin called the bill “absurd.”

Illegal immigration

The three differed on their stance of illegal immigration.

“I believe in a fence,” Mr. Shays said. “When you have laws, you need to enforce them. I want people to come in from the front doors, not from the back.”

Mr. Maymin said he would like to secure every inch of the U.S. borders.

“I support deporting all illegal immigrants,” and not granting amnesty Mr. Maymin said.

However, if illegal immigrants leave on their own, it would be possible for them to apply to be a legal immigrant.

“Eleven to 12 million individuals didn’t just arrive here a few months ago,” Ms. Farrell said. “I believe we have to give these people a reason to step out of the shadows.”

Ms. Farrell said it’s not just the immigrants who are the problem, the government also needs to crack down on employers.

The final two debates were slated for Wednesday, Oct. 18, in Stamford and today, Oct. 19, in Norwalk.

© Copyright by Hersam Acorn newspapers