Late Debate

Five days before the general election, Republican Allen Weh finally got his wish to confront Democratic US Sen. Tom Udall in a debate.

For weeks, Weh has been criticizing the favored incumbent Udall for his inability to meet in a rhetorical exchange of ideas. Thursday night's debate came at a time when many early votes have already been cast, making Weh's efforts to pull off an upset that much slimmer.

Moderator Sam Donaldson, sporting his trademark toupee and a still-brisk interviewing style, started the debate by citing Obama's unpopular approval rating.

"Gentlemen, let's begin with the elephant in the room everywhere in this election," Donaldson said. "And his name is Barack Obama, the president of the United States."

Donaldson asked Weh whether he was running against Udall "and his own record" or Obama, "who is very unpopular." Weh took the chance to say both. Sort of.

"I'm running against Sen. Udall, who has sided with President Obama 94 percent of the time," he replied.

By this point, Weh had already stated once that Udall has voted with Obama 94 percent of the time. He would go on to state it one more time. This put Udall on the defensive. He responded with planned senatorial grace.

"I first of all, Sam, want to make absolutely clear, I vote 100 percent of the time for New Mexico and I'm willing to talk to anybody about my votes and defend them," Udall said with a smile. "Secondly I will take on anybody if it comes to hurting New Mexico."

Udall cited his differences with Obama on his criticisms of domestic spying, helping establish the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry at the VA for injured veterans and his opposition of the federal government "robbing" $26 million from state oil and gas revenue.

At one point, Donaldson asked Weh if there was anything redeemable about Obama.

"Well he does a pretty good job with the seeding of the NCAA basketball tournament," Weh responded.

When pressed again, Weh said Obama is "probably a pretty good father, I'll give him credit for that."

All silliness aside, Weh took a moment to say that the Senate race really boils down to the candidates' differences.

"We're not here talking about personal characteristics," Weh said. "We're talking about beliefs and belief systems. Tom's philosophies are different than my philosophies. We recognize that."

So let's take a look at these differences.

On how to best fix New Mexico's faltering economy, Udall says he'll continue bringing federal funding to the state's national labs, military bases, White Sands Missile Range and WIPP and then "spin off jobs out of them" in the private sector. Weh says he'll support the labs and military bases but do a better job simply because he has a military background.

On fighting ISIS, Udall mentioned his vote to send arms to Syrian rebels but stated that he doesn't "believe we should get into another war in the middle east." Weh tiptoed around the edges. First he criticized the Obama administration for not taking the ISIS threat seriously enough earlier this year. Later, when pressed if he was in favor of sending American troops on the ground to fight ISIS, said he wouldn't without "a strategy."

"I am going to be the last guy in the the Senate to commit troops in harms way, particularly without a strategy," Weh said.

Though recent polls show Weh narrowing the gap on Udall's lead, most political observers still have this race listed safely in the Democrat column.

Photo courtesy KNME.

Santa Fe Reporter