DULUTH--U.S. Sen. Al Franken and his Republican challenger Mike McFadden faced off Wednesday morning in the first of three debates that found the incumbent defending his voting record while they clashed over topics ranging from Iron Range mining jobs and the environment to the Affordable Care Act.
After first congratulating Franken and his wife Franni on their upcoming 39th wedding anniversary, McFadden took the first swipe at Franken during the hour-long debate, repeating a key campaign refrain that the freshman Senator is a rubber stamp for President Obama by voting along with him 97 percent of the time—a statistic so frequently evoked by McFadden that Franken made light of it.
"I'm sorry, what was that number? Let me write it down or I'll forget it." Franken said to laughs from the audience.
"I believe the biggest single issue in this country is we've created a professional class of politician and it's killing us, and I believe in six years Sen. Franken has become part of that class. McFadden said.
"He's the most partisan senator in the Democratic party. He's voted 159 out of 161 votes with the Democratic Party. That makes him the most partisan Senator in Washington, that's a fact, that's not my opinion."
Franken, who was relatively subdued on stage compared to a fiery McFadden, said every vote he made was in the interest of Minnesotans.
"In an era where there's been a lot of gridlock, I've worked across party lines to find common sense solutions," he said, ticking off GOP Senators, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Pat Roberts of Kansas, with who he's co-sponsored bills.
"You can slice and dice these numbers any way you want to come up with things that say pretty ridiculous things, but I work for Minnesota and I've been proud to do that," he said, adding that a study cited by McFadden also lists Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who led last year's government shutdown, as the most bipartisan in the Senate.
"On opposite ends of the spectrum, Al Franken is the Ted Cruz of the Democratic party," McFadden retorted.
McFadden accused Franken of holding up energy projects like the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in the midst of overloaded and backlogged railways across Minnesota and the nation.
"There's not been one pipeline built, you haven't built any pipeline, the Keystone pipeline has been under the review process for six years. That is crazy." McFadden said. "That's too long…until you start passing pipelines, we're going to have a rail car shortage."
Franken acknowledged that he voted "to not circumvent the regulatory process" but that he also voted that if Keystone is built, it would be done so with American steel, seizing on comments made by McFadden earlier this summer that he would opt for building the pipeline with Chinese steel if it were cheaper.
"Those are Minnesota jobs. I fight for Minnesota jobs. Maybe that's the difference between me and Mr. McFadden. Maybe he sees profits over people."
Asked by moderators about the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mining project, Franken acknowledged the region needed the jobs, but said that nine years of permits and studies before the project is approved are necessary for sustainable mining and avoiding damage to the environment.
"I can imagine how it can be frustrating especially for the people who want those jobs, but the only thing worse than taking a long time to get this right is getting it wrong. "Franken said.
McFadden called the project a prime example of government overreach, and accused Franken being "Washington-tized" for believing nine years of study is reasonable.
"The fact that this has taken nine years and over $200 million in regulatory review is not acceptable." he said.
McFadden criticized the Affordable Care Act as the largest domestic policy failure of a generation; a piece of legislation that wasn't properly vetted. Franken defended it as a successful system that has helped countless citizens, including a constituent's daughter with cystic fibrosis who he said is alive today because of the policy.
"Understand this," Franken said. "If they repeal this, it goes back to square one. It goes back to a divided congress and all of this goes away."
In closing statements, both candidates evoked their families—McFadden his six children, and Franken his year-old grandson—as reasons for wanting to do better for the nation.
Despite their differences, the candidates remained cordial throughout the debate, warmly shaking hands at the conclusion before heading off opposite ends of the stage to greet backers, who were divided evenly among the audience of about 100. Franken's wife, Franni, approached the stage and chatted with McFadden afterward. The candidates' next debate is at 10 a.m. Oct. 26 on WCCO TV.
