What are you supposed to say during a debate in which your opponent is almost an hour late? Use that time to take cheap shots, knowing he can't defend himself?
U.S. Senate candidate Bob Bennett probably could have, but during a debate - well, actually a monologue - before the Valley West Chamber of Commerce Thurs-day, Bennett continued his policy of gentlemanly disagreement with his Democratic opponent, Wayne Owens.Bennett used the hour of free time to bill himself as the vehicle for congressional change, as a candidate serious about reducing the national deficit and as a key player in resolving the current impasse over new wilderness designations in Utah.
"If I become the senator, the wilderness issue will be resolved within two years, somewhere between 1.2 and 1.5 million acres," Bennett said, praising a new wilderness proposal offered Thursday by Democrat Rep. Bill Orton, D-Utah, that calls for 1.2 million acres of wilderness.
"The key issue is a united delegation. It is very clear now that with Orton's statement that we would have unanimity (within the Utah delegation) if we remove one member of that delegation: Wayne Owens," Bennett said. "And I know how you can do that."
Owens has proposed more than 5 million acres of wilderness. Owens' tardiness was due to the fact Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell was in Salt Lake City to endorse Owens.
During the final moments of the debate, Owens noted his own success in getting the Central Utah Project through Congress, his support for increased capital for small businesses and his support for a national health care plan.
"There are 37 million people in this country with no health care at all," he said. "Health care should be a matter of right, not privilege."
The gathering at the Salt Lake Valley Community College also featured a debate between Orton and his Republican opponent in the 3rd Congressional District, Richard Harrington. Harrington tried to paint Orton as a Democratic liberal who votes with Owens 80-90 percent of the time and is out of touch with voters in the 3rd District.
Orton, meanwhile, portrayed himself as a conservative and a vehicle of compromise between Republican members of the Utah delegation and the Demo-controlled Congress.
Harrington argued for tax reform, less government regulation, cutting congressional pay by one-half and a return to individual responsibility. "I don't believe it is the function of government to feed us, to clothe us, to house us, to care for us from cradle to grave," he said.
Orton wants to keep the current tax system but restore the tax incentives that made the system more progressive than it is now. He also supports balancing the federal budget, reforming the entitlement programs and reducing regulations that hamper small businesses.