3rd District Republicans debate in Louisville

LOUISVILLE -- The four candidates for the Republican nomination in the 3rd Congressional District congregated in Louisville on Monday night for their race's only full-fledged debate prior to the May 20 primary.

For three of the candidates, it was the chance to introduce themselves as contrasts to the race frontrunner - and former holder of the 3rd District seat - Anne Northup. Northup, on the other hand, spent the evening distinguishing herself from the man who unseated her in 2006, incumbent John Yarmuth (D-Louisville).

Property manager Corley Everett, UPS employee Bob Devore, and developer Chris Thieneman - each based out of Louisville - joined Northup on stage Wednesday night for a mostly civil engagement, broadcast live on the KET public television network.

For Thieneman, the debate was the stage he had been waiting for and the venue he had hyped as the jumping-off point for his campaign. Thieneman only recently resurrected his bid for the KY-3 nomination after dropping out in frustration in late January. Then, Thieneman fired off accusations that he was pressured to quit by associates of both Northup and incumbent Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville).

Upon his initial withdrawl, Thieneman denounced the local Republican party and said he would endorse Yarmuth - a decision he later termed a "mistake."

It was only after Thieneman was removed from the Jefferson County Republican Convention by a police officer that talk of reviving his campaign developed. He officially announced he was back in the fray on April 19 and pointed directly at Monday's debate as the time and place when answers about what he was doing would be given.

The evening's inevitable question came from Joe Gerth, of the Louisville Courier-Journal, who questioned how Thieneman could overcome the fallout from his back-and-forth flirtations with his own campaign.

"There is a small group of elitist Republicans that are leading this community, and they were adamantly about getting me out of this race. If it were up to them, there would only be one candidate running, and they felt that would be showing myself as the true Republican," Thieneman stated. "I felt like the better Republican would stay in the race. Though I may not be a very fancy speaker, I am a great fighter, and a big believer in the democracy I am fighting for."

When Gerth followed by asking if Thieneman would support Northup and McConnell candidacy, should they be the nominees in November, Thieneman replied "What I would love to know is if I win election will Anne Northip and Mitch McConnell support me?"

He then concluded that he would "deal with that after May 20."

In response, Northup offered an olive branch Thieneman seemed surprised to receive.

"I will absolutely support Chris if he wins this primary. I agree he has a passionate interest. I certainly would support him," said Northup. "In no way did I want Chris to get out of race. I didn't make any calls to have that happen.... I didn't know whether there would be a primary or not, but a primary does give us the chance to talk about issues and what is important here. "

Then, turning to Thieneman, who stood at the podium next to her, Northup addressed her opponent on the issue directly.

"I wish you well, Chris. I promise you it came as a shock to me what happened at conventions...Someone from my campaign reached out to Chris and said ‘if you are not going to run we would be proud and honored to have your endorsement,'" said Northup. "I know how hard you have worked and I appreciate that. I think that you should know that's the prevailing feeling."

Thieneman - having met Northup's eyes for the exchange - then offered his own "thank you" for the sentiment.

For much of the debate, Thieneman and Northup remained focused on articulating their own viewpoints. It was Everett, a two-time candidate for the state House, who was the most feisty of the participants, throwing jabs at both Northup, Thieneman, and the Republican delegation in Congress.

In a discussion on immigration, Everett targeted Northup for accepting campaign contributions from the National Restaurant Association, which he argued favored relaxed immigration restrictions.

"To suggest that ‘oh, well I will take, in the course of my career, $50,000 from the National Restaurant Association,' which is the expressed advocate of no employer sanctions and relaxing the borders - I have to say it defies credulity," said Everett.

Northup responded by saying the contributions would not soften her immigration positions.

"I have been very firm about saying, first of all, we need to stop all illegal workers from coming here, second of all we need to have tamper proof identifications, and then we need to hold employers accountable for who they hire," said Northup. "I am proud of fact that no matter who has contributed to me, I have never been afraid to look people in eye and say ‘I'm sorry we don't agree on this issue. I'm glad we agree on 90% of issues, but on this issue we don't. That's what strong leadership is. Its somebody who works with groups in all parts of our community."

Everett also swiped at Thieneman for his - later-retracted - support of Democratic Congressman Yarmuth.

"The suggestion that any Republican could drink the poison wine of voting for John Yarmuth is just a suggestion that is too terrifying for me to contemplate,"said Everett.

Yarmuth himself was, however, the favored target for most of the event.

Northup focused several of her responses on the incumbent, including a criticism of his stance on the Iraq War.

"We are all here tonight because we believe John Yarmuth does not represent the common sense wisdom of people in this community. When he ran, he said he believed that we should leave Iraq immediately. He has gone to Washington and he has stayed in that position even though things have improved greatly. If we left now we would leave friends who have put themselves on the line for us in Iraq, we would undermine the sacrifice our men and women have made in the field, and we would have a huge loss of trust around world,"said Northup. "My biggest criticism of the current representative is not only that he still won't change and acknowledge things are going better and that we should stay there, but that while our men and women were on front line, he voted against providing them the essential things they need to protect themselves. That's simply wrong."

When the discussion turned to energy policy, each candidate agreed new domestic oil drilling was necessary.

" [Northup's] record is very strong for energy independence and drilling, something we would never get from ‘Earth Day John,'" said Everett, taking another swipe at Yarmuth.

When questioned about the potential of global warming and climate change, Everett and Devore became even more steadfast in their calls for expanded drilling.

Devore rejected global warming as "one big fat lie" and also referenced Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" film on the subject.

"The key point is this: they are trying to find ways to tax us," said Devore, in referenced to proponents of global warming. "I want to see proof...That movie [Gore] made is something to be laughed at."

Thieneman took a cautious approach to the subject.

"As a developer, I am very concerned about global warming, as far as what I have learned from the media," said Thieneman. "I am not sure this isn't something that may be a little worse as described in the media."

Each candidate also agreed that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts proposed by President George W. Bush should be made permanent as a principal method of boosting the economy.

Northup, for her part, said she would need a "crystal ball" to look forward to the next two economic quarters in order to say whether the country was embroiled in a recession or not. 

Thieneman, on the other hand, pointed to evidence from his occupation while assessing the recent economic downturn as a recession.

"Part of the reason I am up here tonight is because of the recession I know we are in," said Thieneman. "As a developer and homebuilder, it is so hard to find buyers who can get credit to build new homes."

While some policy disagreements were on display, the one universal sentiment among the candidates was opposition to Yarmuth.

"I think any one of us would be a better candidate than John Yarmuth," said Devore. "We are all patriots, we are all focusing on what is best for the kids, and we are all focusing on what is best for the future."