A personal dig here or a low blow there hasn't thrown candidates in the 3rd Congressional District too far from the issues-oriented campaigns they vowed to run.
Debates between Democrat Rep. Bill Orton and Republican challenger Chris Cannon are spirited, but not out of control. Their obvious disagreements are mostly congenial, though sometimes peppered with caustic remarks.Currently, the two appear to be waging the Battle of the Budget. Most of their debate time is spent arguing about how Bob Dole's budget plan is better for Utah and America than Orton's proposal, which has been defeated twice in the House already. Both are running television ads touting the idea they favor and attacking the one they don't.
Cannon continues to bomb away at Orton's congressional record, saying the Democrat cast at least 446 votes that were bad for Utah. Orton tries to counter the offensive with lines ranging from "Cannon doesn't understand the issues" to "he's purposefully distorting the record."
The Cannon campaign says Orton is good at re-characterizing Cannon's arguments and shooting them down, leaving voters confused. The Orton camp says Cannon is misfiring, and that it's trying to set the record straight.
The two candidates also have sharp differences over who can better represent the 3rd District in Congress. And although Orton sometimes tries to shy away from the Democrats, the differences definitely have to do with party alliance.
"I am trying to represent you in Congress," Orton told an audience this week. "He is running to be a Republican in Congress." Orton said Cannon prefers to divide into teams and have his team win.
Orton said he represents people, not the party or special interests. At the same time, however, he argues that Utah needs a Democrat to keep from being shut out of the party's closed caucus meetings.
Cannon has said that Orton's non-involvement in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument decision shows he's a non-player in the nation's capital. Cannon also can't figure out how Orton can claim he's not beholding to any special interests.
"You don't get half of your PAC support from unions without the obligation to pay back," he said. Cannon also said Orton's votes in Congress this past session gravitated toward Clinton, revealing his true Democratic colors.
Cannon said Republicans want to move government away from telling people what to do in favor of allowing them to choose what they want to do. Democrats, he said, invade people's lives and limit choices.
Campaign spending also is an issue in the 3rd District.
Cannon has spent about $1.3 million, more than $800,000 of it out of his own pocket. Orton has spent about $400,000. Cannon justifies the big spending by saying an incumbent has all the advantages and that he has to make himself known to the electorate. Orton has accused him of trying to buy the election.
"You can't buy an election. People won't sell their vote. It just doesn't work," Cannon said.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
U.S. Congress - 3rd District
What is the main issue facing the 3rd District, and how would you address it?
BILL ORTON (D):
Balancing the budget and reducing the deficit. The debt we pile up today must be paid by our children. Deficit reduction also will help promote continued economic growth and keep interest rates low, which will help Utah's prospering economy continue to grow. Since I've been a member of the House Budget Committee, we have cut the deficit by 60 percent. The deficit now stands at its lowest level in 15 years.
CHRIS CANNON (R):
Reducing the tax burden on Utah's families and individuals, hopefully allowing more parents to choose if both will work and eliminating the budget deficit. I will support any reasonable tax-cut plan, Republican or Democratic, that is broad-based and paid for by spending cuts.
Do you favor or oppose President Clinton's national monument in southern Utah?
BILL ORTON (D):
From the beginning, I have called the president's decision a "monumental blunder" - pun intended. After it became clear he was going ahead, rather than throwing my hands in the air and giving up, I negotiated concessions with the president. For example, the land will continue to be managed by the BLM for multiple uses, rather than single-use management by the Park Service. Grazing, hunting, fishing and water rights will continue under current law. School-trust lands will be exchanged for other lands, coal leases or fully compensated. Existing coal leases will not be terminated, and the environmental impact study will be concluded and will determine whether coal mining will be allowed.
CHRIS CANNON (R):
Strongly oppose. President Clinton was willing to hurt Utah for a few votes in California. The process was undemocratic, and Clinton completely ignored Mr. Orton in his decision to actually create the monument, despite the fact that Orton was a Clinton delegate in Chicago (at the Democratic national convention).
How much wilderness should Congress adopt for Utah?
BILL ORTON (D):
I have devoted thousands of hours to reviewing areas proposed for wilderness designation; I have listened to opinions from all sides. Based on this research, I have written legislation for 1.2 million acres of wilderness and 3.6 million acres of multiple-use national conservation areas, which balances our needs and can be a starting point when both sides are ready to work together.
CHRIS CANNON (R):
I support the bill put together by Gov. Leavitt, Sen. Hatch, Sen. Bennett, Rep. Hansen and Rep. Greene. Around 2 million acres of additional wilderness is appropriate.
In the next two years would you ever vote to increase a tax?
BILL ORTON (D):
I believe our first priority is to balance the budget, and the way is to cut spending. Therefore, I voted against President Clinton's $225 billion tax increase in 1993. However, I think it is irresponsible . . . to rule out the possibility of increasing taxes to pay for a war or to avoid the bankruptcy of Social Security or Medicare.
CHRIS CANNON (R):
No.
What taxes, if any, do you want to cut over the next two years and why?
BILL ORTON (D):
This year, I voted for a $5,000 adoption tax credit, numerous tax incentives for small businesses, an exclusion of higher-education benefits provided by an employer and for tax relief for working seniors - all of which became law. In the next Congress, I will work for the passage of capital-gains tax relief, expanded IRAs, education credits, and my proposed legislation to eliminate capital-gains taxes on home sales. However, I oppose any tax package that balloons the deficit and drives up interest rates. Tax cuts must be targeted and paid for.
CHRIS CANNON (R):
Provide a $500-per-child tax credit. Cut income-tax rates and the capital-gains tax. Key reason: To allow more parents to choose if both must work rather than both being forced to work to help pay federal taxes. Families spend more on taxes than on food, clothing, shelter and utilities combined.
How will you be more effective in Congress than your opponent?
BILL ORTON (D):
The only way to really be effective is to be substantive, not merely partisan. I will be more effective because I will be moderate and work with members (of both parties).
My opponent says he will be a member of the partisan Gingrich team.
CHRIS CANNON (R):
I will be able to work with Gov. Leavitt, Sen. Hatch and Sen. Bennett to deliver for Utah. Too often, Mr. Orton ignores the rest of the delegation on issues of critical concern to Utah.
Briefly say whether you favor or oppose various possible federal laws or amendments to the U.S. Constitution:
BILL ORTON (D):
Balanced-budget amendment: Favor. I have voted for it three times. Flag-desecration amendment: I honor the flag and our nation's veterans, but I joined Sen. Bennett in opposing this amendment. Anti-abortion amendment: I do not support abortion except in extreme circumstances, such as rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at serious risk. Ultimately, I do not believe abortion should be a political issue. Laws allowing same-sex marriage: I voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act. This legislation would permit states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages sanctioned in other states. Federal death penalty: Favor. Brady gun-control law: Opposed. Declaring tobacco a drug: I support the FDA regulating tobacco as a drug in ways that would decrease tobacco use among children.
CHRIS CANNON (R):
Balanced-budget amendment: Favor.
Flag-desecration amendment: Favor.
Anti-abortion amendment: Favor.
Laws allowing same-sex marriages: Oppose.
Federal death penalty: Favor.
Brady gun-control law: Oppose.
Declaring tobacco a drug: Favor.
Cannon's question for Orton: In August you went to Chicago as a Democratic delegate to support President Clinton's renomination. Why do you believe Mr. Clinton is the best choice for president?
BILL ORTON (D):
The issue is not whether I support President Clinton for president, but rather who the people should support to represent them in Congress. While my opponent would like to make this election a referendum on President Clinton or party affiliation, it is not. It is a referendum on my representation of the people. There may be a legitimate question of whether I support the president on specific issues. I have supported him when I believe he is right, such as allowing parents to control what their children watch on television through a V-chip, increased funding for police and prisons, opposing deep cuts in Medicare and connecting all schools to the information superhighway. I opposed the president on issues like the Utah monument designation and his 1993 tax increase, and I voted to override his vetoes to the partial-birth abortion ban and tort-of-securities litigation.
Orton's question for Cannon: In one of your negative ads, you "blame Bill Orton" for President Clinton's designation of the new monument in Utah - implying you would have been able to stop it. You have also stated in newspaper interviews that you were fired from a high-level appointment in the Reagan administration. Given this, specifically, what could you have done that Sens. Hatch and Bennett and Rep. Hansen didn't do to stop it?
CHRIS CANNON (R):
The facts are clear that Mr. Orton was kept out of the loop on the designation of the new national monument in southern Utah by the Clinton administration, despite the fact that he led Utah's Democratic delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to vote for President Clinton. In contrast, I will work closely with Gov. Leavitt, Sen. Hatch and Sen. Bennett to aggressively protect Utah's public lands. I am very proud of my service for President Reagan. I left in a conflict over pressure to fire a good employee that a superior personally disliked. I did the honorable thing.
Cannon's question for Orton: Please justify why your budget plan reduces cost-of-living allowances for those on Social Security/federal pensions by $29.4 billion and increases income taxes, by allowing inflation to push individuals into higher tax brackets, by $21.4 billion?
BILL ORTON (D):
Chris Cannon should apologize for his continued inaccurate attacks on my proposal. There are no cuts in Social Security or tax increases in my budget, but rather a technical correction in the Consumer Price Index. Sen. Bob Bennett said "the most important thing in this centrist coalition proposal is the courage to face the fact that the CPI is wrong." Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bennett, Bob Dole and every Republican in the House have voted for an even larger reduction in the CPI than is included in my budget. Dole said, "I think we should do this in a bipartisan way, without taking political shots," as Mr. Cannon has repeatedly done in his TV ads. Rep. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), Social Security subcommittee chairman, said that "unfortunately some . . . have chosen to demagogue this issue" and it was a distortion to suggest they were "trying to cut Social Security COLAs (cost-of-living adjustments) or to raise taxes because of anticipated adjustments in the Consumer Price Index. This is pure hogwash. It is totally dishonest." Moreover, Mr. Cannon is not only factually incorrect, he is also mathematically incorrect when he says my budget reduces Social Security benefits. Senior citizens would receive larger Social Security checks under my budget plan than under the Gingrich budget that Cannon supports.
Orton's question for Cannon: You state that education is a state right and responsibility and that the federal government should not mandate curriculum. Yet you also attack me for voting against the federal government mandating that all states must teach a specific principle of sex education. Please explain whether you oppose all federal mandates on course curriculum or whether you believe that you should impose mandates with which you agree but oppose mandates with which you disagree.
CHRIS CANNON (R):
Mr. Orton is referring to his vote, under the Democratically controlled Congress, against requiring that sexual abstinence be taught when the federal government provides funds for sex-education programs. The federal government should transfer federal education programs to the states and eliminate federal requirements. But, if the federal government is funding such programs, those programs should be consistent with basic American moral principles.