When it comes to health care, abortion and solutions to the country’s runaway debt, the differences between Andrew Duck and Casey Clark are minimal.
As the two Democratic candidates to represent the state’s sixth congressional district squared off on the campus last night, both staked out liberal platforms that sometimes steered right of the party line. But while Duck and Clark have found common ground on the issues dividing the nation, the point that unites them most has nothing to do with policy.
They want Roscoe Bartlett out. And in last night’s debate, which was sponsored by the College Democrats, neither candidate passed up the chance to rail against their district’s Republican incumbent.
Duck took shots at Bartlett, saying the 83-year-old congressman is beholden to his party’s interests and hasn’t done enough to spur job creation in the western region of the state he has represented for 18 years.
Echoing that sentiment, Clark called the incumbent out of touch with voters.
“That chair would be better than Roscoe Bartlett,” Clark said.
Drawn together against Bartlett and in most of their policies, Duck and Clark argued that character and experience set them apart.
Duck, a military intelligence professional, made the case that his 22 years serving in the Army would appeal to the sixth district’s conservative streak.
With significantly more money already in the bank, Clark retorted that he was better positioned to take Bartlett out. Duck has run in the Democratic primary twice before and, in both attempts, failed to raise the cash necessary to rival the incumbent’s advertising prowess.
“In 2008, 94 percent of candidates who raised the most money won their race,” he said, later adding, “I think it’s time our party has a new face on the table. Andrew ran twice before, and he’s failed twice.”
But while Clark trumpeted his fundraising advantage, Duck spun it as an affront to his party’s values.
“The Republicans are the party about money,” he said.
Duck also hammered Clark for his position in his family business. The business, which produces clothing labels, does the bulk of its work in China.
When Clark called for more job creation in the western part of the state, Duck called him a hypocrite. In one of the most heated moments of the debate, Clark then pointed to a promotional rubber duck Duck used on the campaign.
Clothing labels, like rubber ducks, are made exclusively in China, Clark said, explaining that while his family’s business is rooted in the state, globalization forced it abroad.
“Mr. Duck, I would challenge you to focus on Roscoe Bartlett and the sixth district and not my family,” he said.
Shortly after the claim, Clark pledged to run an attack-free campaign.
And yet, on the issues, the candidates were strikingly similar. Other than a brief spat over a proposal for a national sales tax (Clark supports it, Duck doesn’t) and a disagreement over policy regarding Afghanistan (Clark thinks the military should pull out immediately), the two did not differ often.
Toward the end of the debate, Duck said his criticisms were necessary not because the opponents are different, he said, but rather because they are so alike.
“If you listen to the words, you may think that we’re identical, so you should look at the actions,” he said
slivnick@umdbk.com
