I was going to blog about something else tonight, but after I saw the Delaware Senate debate on C-Span between O'Donnell and Coons, I had to make a comment on a number of points. First off, O'Donnell more than just held her own. To any objective observer, she handily won the debate. Coons was on the defensive almost through the entire debate, or at least through the last part of it (I missed most of the first half of the debate, so I can't fairly comment on that part).
There was one point where I thought O'Donnell had unwittingly stepped into a mine field, when she made the statement that China had plans to take over the US, plans that she was privy to by way of classified briefings. I thought to myself "okay, its over".
But then she explained that this briefing came about in the course of a trip to China which she undertook as part of some charitable group (I'm just going to assume this was some religious group, but I don't know). She went on to detail numerous ways where China has stood in opposition to our foreign policies, or has otherwise been a hindrance, on such matters as Iran and North Korea, while also pointing out the Chinese own a large part of our debt, something she went on to point out is an aspect of Democrats spending habits, stating quite pointedly that Coons as a Senator would almost certainly support this.
Coons in his attempt to rebut this started out derisively, as was his stance often through the debate, but amazingly went on to affirm that China was a real menace, economically. Of course, this was O'Donnell's major point to begin with-their main threat was economic, not military. It's almost like she baited the hook, and Coons swallowed it whole.
But even that, as bad as it was for Coons, was not the worse part. That would be when O'Donnell stated flatly that Coons and his family business stood to profit from the implementation of any Cap And Trade legislation. How? Well, the business manufactures hydrogen fuel cells, according to her.
Again, more dismissive derision from Coons, who nevertheless went on to explain that, no, his business does not manufacture hydrogen fuel cells-they merely make parts for them, but it would be years before they could stand to benefit from any type of alternative energy tax credits from the government.
Yeah, right. This affirms what I've always-well, not suspected, known. Most of these alternative energy lords are just as much out to profit from any potential energy policy as any oil company CEO. Global Climate Change is nothing more or less than a pretty clever sales pitch.
In the meantime, O'Donnell stated her own position, that it should be the states-Delaware, Virginia, etc., who decides on whether there should be off-shore drilling off their respective coasts, while pointing out further that the US is too energy and resource rich to stand for being held hostage by foreign oil under the control of potentially hostile nations.
There were multiple other points along these same lines, and I didn't always agree with her. I had to suppress a groan when she repeated the standard conservative cliche about embryonic stem cell research versus adult stem cells. But then again, even here, she made a great point. If embryonic cells were valid forms of potentially profitable medical research, private companies wouldn't need government subsidies in order to engage in the research, which, remember, is perfectly legal with private capital. It is only federal funds which are banned from use for such research.
She hit all the right notes about abortion, DADT, etc. Everything she said was right on the money. Overturning Roe v Wade, she reminded the audience, would not make abortion illegal, it would merely turn the decision over to the individual states. DADT should be decided solely by the military. Admittedly, Coons made his one valid point of the night here when he compared a potential change in the law regarding gays in the military to Truman's integration of the armed forces. But it was his one and only moment of sanity.
The rest of the night, he spent acting like an arrogant toad for the special interests of Washington and bleeping about bi-partisanship, something that might well play in Delaware sufficiently for him to win the election, but on the other hand, when you listen to this guy you get the distinct impression that, to him, like so many other Democrats, bi-partisanship is when Republicans agree to give Democrats most of what they want. That song has gotten so old you just can't dance to it anymore without feeling like an idiot.
O'Donnell deserves to win this race, but I'm afraid she more than likely will not. That's just too bad. She proved tonight she could stand up to Coons, or anybody else, and more than hold her own. She is nobody's fool, while Coons, she reminded the audience, is so beholden to special interests that Harry Reid even referred to Coons once as his pet.
"I don't know why Harry Reid said that" whined Coons.
