Michigan View: 9th District Rundown of Rocky vs. Peters Debate

Last Updated: September 28. 2010
Debate: Rock 'em, sock 'em
Robert Laurie / The Michigan View.com
As anticipated, Monday night’s fight – er, debate - between 9th District Congressional opponents Rocky Raczkowski and Gary Peters was a slugfest.

Republican Raczkowski came out swinging just hours after filing an anti-defamation suit against his opponent for ads accusing him of “fraud” and “theft.” Raczkowski claimed that the Peters ad was filled with “misstatements” that only revealed Peters’ “state of desperation.” Peters shot back that the court battle between Raczkowski and his former business partner would be a long term distraction if he were elected. That may have been as close as the Democrat came to making a solid point all evening – because when it came to the issues, it’s clear why Peters has tried to divert this campaign to personal attacks.

For all the fisticuffs over lawsuits, the event (sponsored and streamed live by The Oakland Press) was issue driven. Rocky presented himself as a candidate of core conservative principles. . . and so did Peters. The first-term Pelosi poodle continued his Extreme Makeover as a pro-business, anti-deficit, state’s rights candidate. But that doesn’t square with his record.

It didn’t work.

Raczkowski came out strong, pointing at Peters as he described a Washington culture that ignores the wishes of the people they represent. “Congress,” Rocky said, “shouldn’t be stressful if you’re listening to your constituents.” Time and again, he used Peters’ voting record against him - Exhibit A in the Democrats’ failure to heed the wishes of the 9th district.

When Peters claimed that he was concerned about deficits and debt, Raczkowski countered that “It’s great to hear people talk about cutting the deficit, when they voted for every package that gave us this deficit.”

“How did you vote on Obamacare? How did you vote on stimulus? How did you vote on cap and trade?” Raczkowski asked. “It’s about trust. People trusted you, you had a chance. You’re in the tightest race of your life, because you lost their trust.”

For his part, Peters tried to portray Raczkowski as a “fringe” tea party extremist (this just days after Peters had used the left-wing extremist slur “teabagger” to describe his opponent). But the attack smacked of desperation, especially as the tea party continues to grow its mainstream influence. When asked if he thought of himself as a tea partier or as a more traditional Republican, Raczkowski said he felt “more closely associated with families of Oakland County. If that's the tea party or the Republican Party, I'm with them.”

Perhaps most embarrassing for Peters was an ill-fated attempt to portray Raczkowski’s support of a fair tax as nothing more than a 23 percent, across-the-board tax increase. In truth, the fair tax is designed to completely replace the current tax system, rather than expand it. Peters came off looking silly at best - at worst, willfully ignorant.

As the evening came to a close, Raczkowski took one last opportunity to paint Peters as a man who had turned his back on his district. “If you had listened to the people of Oakland County,” he said, “you would never have voted for Obamacare, and you wouldn’t have voted for cap and trade.”

“We need someone who will actually listen to Oakland County,” Raczkowski concluded. “Not Nancy Pelosi.”

http://detnews.com/article/20100928/MIVIEW/100928001/Debate--Rock--em--sock--em