Tolbert: Candidates Stay On Message, Asa Stays The Frontrunner

Tuesday night’s debate on KATV saw Republican Asa Hutchinson and Democrat Mike Ross square off in their second statewide televised debate.  This time, both candidates seemed to stayed more on message with less fireworks. In the first debate on KARK, Ross often came across in a snarky, defensive tone while Asa remained composed and confident in my opinion.

But in this second debate, Ross lost most of the snark. Neither candidate walked away with a “Rick Perry” oops moment.  Neither candidate said much new that we had not heard before. Both Asa and Ross did manage to get a few shots in on the other but neither shot was a “wow” moment.

Asa took aim at the tax cut plan from Ross which calls for almost $600 million in income tax cuts by retroactively adjusting the tax brackets for inflation but with no timetable for implementation. Asa has proposed a $100 million tax cut by creating a new 6% income tax bracket for middle class income workers and has said he will push for passage during his first year in office.

“Ross wants to do $600 million in tax cuts over 8 years which is $70 million a year. He won’t even tell us what he wants to do next year. So his is really pie in the sky, unworkable. Mine is a very specific doable plan,” said Asa.

Ross contends that – much like Mike Beebe – he will implement his tax cuts the same way Mike Beebe did – as revenue surplus allows for it – as Mike Beebe did. Oh, did I mention Mike Beebe?

Ross took his shot on Asa during a question on the minimum wage.

“I have been a consistent supporter of raising the minimum wage. Now Congressman Hutchinson here – I can’t figure out if he sounds more like a slick lawyer or a slick D.C. politician. He has been both,” said Ross accusing Asa of flip-flopping on the minimum wage issue. “You got to make decisions not on what public polling tells you, but you got to make decisions from the heart.”

It was a good line but ironic. In Congress, Ross was well known for polling his district and taking a cue from them for how he should vote on issues. He has admitted this several times, but notably on his change of heart on Obamacare following the heated townhalls during the 2009 summer recess.

“I had to have a balance while I was there to represent the interests of my district on some of the things so I could do what I thought was right on some of the bigger things,” said Ross this past summer discussing his votes while in Congress.

There were also shots on ground that have been covered in the past, such as pre-K and ObamaCare.  But overall the debate was a draw. And with Asa winning the first debate and still lead by an average of around 5 or 6 points in most polls – the tie goes to Asa.

I will also add that both candidates had a remarkably better performance than Sen. Mark Pryor did yesterday after being thrown a softball question by a MSNBC reporter. Pryor’s “uuuhhhmmm” answer is almost impossible to adequately translate so just watch the video below.