The VPR Republican Senate Debate

Earlier this week, the candidates seeking the Republican nomination for US Senate debated on VPR’s Switchboard. This is a very important election coming up on September 13. The winner of this primary will go on to face Bernie Sanders in a race to win the US Senate seat previously occupied by Jim Jeffords.

The candidates seeking the Republican nomination are Rich Tarrant, Greg Parke, and Cris Ericson.

With apologies to Ms. Ericson, I am going to focus this post on Greg Parke and Rich Tarrant. I am going to try to do a post about her candidacy later. In the mean time, check out her website if you are interested, here.

I have had my mind made up about this race for some time now, but I did want to give Rich Tarrant one more chance to convince me to vote for him. This debate was that chance. He did not fair well.

For one, he used to be a Democrat. That does not sit well with me, but since the Democratic Party used to be more conservative and I do know some very conservative Republicans who used to be Democrats, I was willing to set that aside.

Overall, I think Tarrant is too comfortable with government regulation. In response to a question about farms, he proposed that the government limit how much the price a farmer gets for milk can fall in one year.

She’s Right is opposed to all government subsidies to farms. (Yes, you read that right. I am a radical, lunatic, fringe extremist. I know.) If the price of milk is too low, we have too many dairy farms. Personally I do not think that all small dairy farms will go out of business because there are so many people, myself included, who will not drink milk that comes from large agri-business farms that pump their cows full of chemicals and hormones. There will be enough demand to support a certain level of supply and unfortunately, the other farmers will have to find something creative to do to stay afloat. Why should farming be any different that any other business? Either you adapt to the market, find your niche, or go under.

Greg Parke did not articulate what I just said. That was my opinion.

He did say that the way to help farmers is for the government to remove the regulation that is making it difficult for them to do business. This position comes from what he learned during the time he spent actually working on a farm.

When it comes to the war, Greg Parke has military and diplomatic experience in the Middle East. He understands the root of the violence in that region and how to tackle those root causes.

Rich Tarrant suggests moving our troops out of harms way right now. He likened it to teaching a kid to ride a bike and the need to let go of the bike and let the kid fall, so he can get back up on his own.

Cute analogy, but too simple. As Greg Parke pointed out, we need to keep our word to the people in Iraq.

A caller brought up the Defense of Marriage Act. Tarrant said that marriage is between a man and a woman, but that a constitutional amendment is the wrong way to go; it goes against what the constitution was intended for. Two points for Tarrant.

In a great rebound, Greg Parke brought up that this is a sticky and contentious issue and an amendment would force it to be voted on in every state, letting us know once and for all where people stand on the issue of marriage. I had never thought about that. It is indeed a good point. However, that could also be accomplished with a national referendum vote.

When a caller brought up a woman’s right to choose, Tarrant answered that "Roe-Wade" is the law of the land and that is a court issue, not one for the Senate. Either Mr. Tarrant is an idiot or he thinks we are. Okay, “idiot” is probably too strong a word there, but everybody knows that the Senate confirms the judges, so to say that it is an issue for the courts and not an issue for the Senate is either disingenuous or ignorant.

Parke came out as pro-life, then noted that women do not have a real choice. Studies have shown that 60% of abortions are coerced. He would support a bill that made it illegal to coerce a woman to have an abortion. He also wants more options. He noted that when returning from a trip to Moscow – where he saw first hand the effect of capitalism on a formerly socialist country and it was great (you should really hear that story if you haven’t already) – there were three couples who had just returned from adopting Russian babies because it is too hard to adopt in the US. He recommends making it easier to do adoptions in the US so that would be a viable option for pregnant woman.

Both men supported having a sunset provision on all programs so that they come up for review in order to gauge their effectiveness. This would reduce unnecessary spending.

Both men said that they want to cut spending, but Parke had more specifics on what should be cut, including defense waste, and Tarrant could not mention specifics.

In their closing statements, Tarrant said he despises partisan hatred and would put Vermont and America before party. He stressed throughout the debate that he is "independent."

Parke on the other hand is a solid Republican, who is not afraid to admit where the party has gone wrong in recent years. He is a Vermonter, has worked on a farm, has served in the military, returning to face unemployment for a year. He understands Vermonters needs, as well as understanding conservative fiscal policies that keep money in the hands of the people who earned it, cut government waste, and end unnecessary regulation that serves as a barrier to prosperity. He also has valuable experience in the Middle East, which is greatly needed in our Congress at this time.

My vote in the Republican primary for US Senate will be for Greg Parke.