Candidates for Senate, governor square off

ATLANTIC BEACH

In two fiery debates yesterday, the candidates running to be North Carolina's next governor and next U.S. senator faced off for the first time, arguing over who is most qualified to improve education, fight crime and turn the economy around.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, a Republican running for re-election, came under attack from Democratic challenger Kay Hagan, who tried to paint Dole as a symbol of a broken system in the federal government.

"When it comes to Sen. Dole and her 40 years of experience in Washington, experience just means a way of doing business. It's a way of doing business that puts special interests and their lobbyists before working families," Hagan said.

But in her closing statement, Dole ended the debate with a blistering counterattack on Hagan, accusing her in strongly worded language of raising taxes and being weak on illegal immigration.

"My opponent claims she has a, quote, energy plan, unquote," Dole continued. "But the only octane is in the rhetoric. It offers nothing that will lower the price of gasoline."

The Dole-Hagan debate was followed by another debate between the two candidates running for governor, who appeared to differ on the chief responsibility of state government.

Republican Pat McCrory, who is the mayor of Charlotte, focused on the need to crack down on crime and improve the criminal-justice system.

"The No. 1 responsibility of government is to protect individuals, and we are not doing that in this state," McCrory said.

His Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, spent far more time on education, saying: "As governor, my top priority will be to ensure that every child goes to a great public school. You want that, and I want that."

All four candidates won their primaries last month and have been gearing up their general-election campaigns. Yesterday's debates, which were sponsored by the N.C. Bar Association and were held at an oceanfront hotel in Carteret County, were the first debates of the general election for both races.

Throughout the Senate debate, Dole and Hagan criticized each other's legislative records. Dole is finishing her first term in the Senate; Hagan has been a state legislator for 10 years.

Responding to a question about illegal immigration, each candidate accused the other of legislative inaction.

Dole said that Hagan has "turned a blind eye" to enforcement. She also accused Hagan of making it too easy for illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses -- but Hagan actually supported two bills that toughened the standards to get a driver's license.

Hagan hit back, referring to a program, strongly supported by Dole, that gives local law-enforcement agencies more authority to detect and detain illegal immigrants. Hagan called the program, known as 287(g), an "unfunded mandate." The program, however, is voluntary, not mandated, and the federal government pays most of the cost.

Dole and Hagan both agreed that the top priorities when it comes to immigration are to secure America's borders and to enforce existing laws.

They also both expressed opposition to offshore drilling for oil. If federal restrictions were lifted, drilling could take place off the coast of North Carolina.

"We cannot drill ourselves enough oil to solve this problem. We have got to be energy independent," Hagan said.

Dole said that the U.S. must "produce more and use less" oil, and she noted that she has consistently opposed offshore drilling. But she seemed to leave herself some wiggle room by saying she would closely examine any future proposal to begin offshore drilling.

The candidates appeared to share some common ground on No Child Left Behind, President Bush's controversial education program. They both said that the program is well-intentioned but deeply flawed.

Dole said she would vote to reauthorize No Child Left Behind, but "only with changes," such as higher standards for principals and administrators and a de-emphasis on "teaching to the test."

Hagan said she would not re-authorize the program "unless there were major, major, major changes." She said that the federal government has not provided nearly enough money for No Child Left Behind to be effective.

"Reforms without resources are like schools without teachers. They just don't work," Hagan said.

They disagreed on the war in Iraq.

"We have got to end this war in Iraq," Hagan said. "This war is not making America any safer. We have alienated our allies and increased our enemies."

Dole warned against a "precipitous withdrawal" of troops from Iraq. She also said that it is time for Iraq, not the U.S., to begin paying a larger share of the cost of rebuilding the country.

In the debate between the candidates for governor, McCrory played to his audience by focusing on criminal-justice issues, while Perdue reprised her chief campaign theme of expanding opportunities for every child in North Carolina.

Speaking in front of a roomful of judges and attorneys at the N.C. Bar Association's annual meeting, McCrory hammered the theme of crime. He said he would crack down on criminal gangs, ease overcrowding in the court system, clear the backlog at the state crime laboratory and increase salaries for district attorneys and judges. "Your pay has been ignored far too long," he told the audience.

Perdue also staked out a hard-line position on crime, saying that North Carolina does not and will not tolerate violent criminals or repeat offenders. She said that the state has a tough "three strikes you're out" law, and she said she supports laws that allow prosecutors to group various criminal charges to obtain a harsher punishment.

But McCrory shot back by trying -- as he did throughout the debate -- to link Perdue to what he described as the broken status quo. "I think it would be a surprise to many victims of crime, many police chiefs and on-the-street police officers and sheriffs, to hear that we're tough on crime in North Carolina," McCrory said. "We have not been tough on crime in North Carolina, because we're re-arresting the same people over and over and over again."

Perdue touted her education platform, including a pledge to make community colleges free for students who go on to community college after high school. McCrory opposes the idea because he says it would cost the state too much.

Twice during the debate, Perdue raised the issue of school vouchers, which she called a "distraction."

"I'm not going to take my eyes off the prize and allow vouchers to break the bank on public schools," Perdue said.

McCrory did not deal with vouchers in the debate, but speaking to reporters afterward, he said he supports giving students, parents and teachers as much choice as possible.

"I think there is a place for vouchers," he said. "My immediate goal, however, is to lift the cap on charter schools."

Both candidates said that a key way to improve the economy is to develop a well-educated workforce. Perdue said that starts with strong preschool for every child. McCrory said he wants to expand vocational education.

Perdue and McCrory are running to succeed Gov. Mike Easley, a Democrat who cannot run for re-election because of consecutive-term limits.

Both the senatorial and governor debates will be televised today on the cable-TV channel News 14 Carolina. The governor debate will air at 11 a.m.; the senatorial debate will air at 1 p.m. Both debates will also air at other times this week on Carolina On Demand.

■ James Romoser can be reached at 919-210-6794 or at jromoser@wsjournal.com.