Debate Defines Contrasts of GOP Senate Foes

In a spirited but mostly civil debate Thursday, the two leading GOP candidates for the U.S. Senate nomination clashed over issues ranging from abortion to offshore oil drilling, assault weapons, tobacco taxes and even the Middle East.

With opinion polls showing the race deadlocked, state Treasurer Matt Fong and car alarm entrepreneur Darrell Issa each clearly hoped that the event would vault him to victory Tuesday--and to a matchup with Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer in the fall.

Neither blinked, and neither committed any flagrant missteps as they exchanged jabs and compared resumes. The Republican rivals have traded insults by fax, surrogates and spokesmen for months, but this was the first time that the two have gone eyeball to eyeball and were permitted to question one another, a rarity in political campaigns.

Many voters remain undecided in the race, according to a Times poll last week, and the debate offered a clear set of contrasts between the two.

Both oppose abortion but disagree on a constitutional amendment to ban it. Fong supports taxes on tobacco products; Issa does not. Fong opposes offshore oil exploration; Issa does not. Fong opposes a Palestinian state; Issa does not.

Both men tried humor to turn the issue of Issa’s wealth and self-financed campaign to advantage. “I hate running against millionaires. This is my second one,” Fong said in a reference to his 1994 opponent for treasurer, Sacramento developer Phil Angelides.

Issa, appearing more at ease than his opponent, offered a mock “apology” for using his own money to bring his message about controlling the spread of government to the public. Judging from the volume of laughter, Issa won the battle of the one-liners.

After refusing for weeks to accept Fong’s challenge to debate, Issa switched gears two weeks ago and finally agreed. The switch came as polls began to show that Issa’s support had peaked and that Fong was gaining.

A Tense Moment

Despite recent controversy engendered by a Times story about his business history, Issa was buoyant as he entered the half-empty engineering auditorium at San Jose State University, bantering with reporters and students alike.

He joked with one student to “forget political science, switch to electrical engineering, that’s where the future is.” He teased reporters about covering the campaign only when it turned nasty.

The more serious Fong took the stage without much fanfare and, within a minute of the opening of the debate, fired the first shot--labeling Issa a “self-described outsider whose sole claim to office is his wealth, his business experience, and [whose] entire political experience is writing checks.”

Issa, in response, branded Fong “a second-generation career politician,” a reference to Fong’s mother, former Assemblywoman and California Secretary of State March Fong Eu.

The moment of highest tension--when the proverbial pin could have been heard thudding on the utility carpet--came when Issa upbraided Fong for alleged dirty campaigning.

“There unfortunately has been a pattern in this campaign of accusing me of being a racist,” Issa said, looking directly at Fong. “It’s hurtful. . . . If there is an apology owed, Matt, it’s that one.”

Fong made no response.

Issa was referring to Fong’s charge in March that Issa had been insensitive to Jews when he likened the strains between President Clinton and the wealthy to “class warfare” between Hitler and the Jews. And on Tuesday, a Fong spokesman said that if Issa gets the nomination, he will be the biggest embarrassment to the party since former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke was the GOP candidate for governor in Louisiana.

Stylistic Differences

Although the two candidates have given innumerable interviews, the hourlong debate provided the best opportunity of the campaign to display their philosophic and stylistic differences.

Issa indicated that he would support a constitutional amendment to ban abortion. Fong said he opposes abortion but does not believe that the nation is ready for such an amendment.

Issa said that refusing to even consider oil drilling off the California coast puts the nation at risk of more tanker spills like the one involving the Exxon Valdez, and a possible cutoff of oil from the Middle East. The ban on offshore drilling put in place under the Bush administration is set to lapse in two years.

“Candidly, we cannot afford to import oil from overseas at a higher risk to the environment,” Issa said. “More oil is spilled each year from tankers than from offshore drilling. . . . I’m a big supporter of being as self-sufficient as possible.”

Fong was adamant in his opposition: “Why would we want to dare risk the ecology of our shoreline for that insignificant amount of oil?”

And in an issue that has surfaced only recently in the campaign, they disagreed on American foreign policy in the Middle East.

Issa said he believes that self-rule for the Palestinians is the key to peace and praised the diplomatic efforts of the Clinton administration. Fong sided with House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who this week broke with Clinton, saying that the president is tilting toward the Palestinians.

“He [Issa] supports a Palestinian state. I do not,” Fong said. “I think protection of Israel is paramount.”

Under questioning, Fong said he disagrees with those who would strip U.S. citizenship from the children of illegal immigrants. Issa said he agrees with Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-San Diego), who has promoted a legal analysis that such children are not eligible for citizenship.

Tobacco Tax Disagreement

Tax fighters both, Fong and Issa disagreed on the move to slap additional taxes on tobacco products as part of the settlement between the tobacco industry and the Clinton administration.

Fong said that as long as the prospect of taxes is part of a settlement reached by both sides, he would not oppose it. Issa said he opposes any increased taxation on any product without a corresponding decrease in taxation elsewhere to keep the federal budget from growing.

On gun control, both said they oppose a ban on Saturday night specials. Fong said he supports the ban on assault weapons as long as it is not broadened to include more categories of weapons.

The debate was sponsored by the San Jose Mercury News, with backing from the Silicon Valley Forum of the Commonwealth Club and the political science department at San Jose State. Questions were put to the candidates by two Mercury News reporters and by San Jose State students.

During the event, Issa, 44, trumpeted his blue-collar upbringing in Cleveland, his business success and his role in helping Republicans organize the 1996 national convention in San Diego. He bemoaned the difficulty of running against a politician like Fong who enjoys the perquisites and name identification that come from public office.

Fong, 44, stressed his service on the State Board of Equalization before being elected treasurer in 1994, highlighting his efforts at both agencies to cut governmental spending and use tax credits and other incentives to stimulate economic growth.

“I’ve led where others have followed,” Fong said.

Trading Barbs About Businesses

Issa challenged Fong to prove that he actually ran a small business. The Issa camp has alleged that Fong’s claim to a business background--considered a strong selling point in a Republican primary--is bogus because no tax records or business license forms can be found.

“I had a very humble business--I sold candy bars and hot coffee--to help pay tuition [to business school], as well as selling paperweights to the U.S. Air Force Academy,” Fong said. “We paid taxes. It’s on our returns. Sorry your investigators couldn’t find them.”

Fong asked why, if Issa made $14 million last year, he could not move the manufacturing plant for his car alarms from Taiwan to California to create jobs for Californians. The plant employs 162 people in Taiwan.

Issa responded that the $14 million represented dividends from his ownership of his Vista-based Directed Electronics, not a salary. “I appreciate you understanding the difference if you’re going to be in the U.S. Senate,” he said.

Issa said that manufacturing his products in Taiwan allows him to be “globally competitive.” His campaign manager later said that, like others in the electronics business, Issa needs to benefit from the lower pay scales overseas to keep his product from being too expensive to be marketable.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Where the Candidates Stand

The Issue

Environment: Do you support a continued ban on oil drilling off the California coast?

Their Positions

DARRELL ISSA: Opposes a ban “in perpetuity.” Says the country needs to build strategic oil reserves, requiring exploration. Reliance on overseas oil is economically dangerous.

“We cannot continue to import oil offshore at a higher risk to the environment. More oil is spilled every year off tankers than is spilled by oil drilling.”

MATT FONG: Supports permanent ban on offshore drilling. Says offshore supply is “relatively insignificant” and not worth risking the coastal ecology or the state’s lucrative tourist economy.

“Matt Fong as a United States senator will always vote to block offshore oil drilling off California’s great coastline of this great country.”

Analysis

Most Californians oppose offshore oil drilling, polls show. Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer, a strong environmentalist, is hoping to exploit Issa’s position in the fall campaign, just as she used the drilling issue in 1992 against GOP rival Bruce Herschensohn. Knowing this, the Fong campaign argues that Issa’s position makes him exceedingly vulnerable against Boxer if he wins the GOP nomination.

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The Issue

Gun control: Do you support a ban on the sale of assault weapons and Saturday night specials?

Their Positions

DARRELL ISSA: Calls it unfair to ban inexpensive handguns that may be the only weapons available to poor people. Calls for stronger punishment for using a gun in a crime or failing to handle one safely.

“I am not going to be somebody who gets up and says crime will end if you take weapons away from law-abiding citizens.”

MATT FONG: Opposes Saturday night special ban but supports “the existing ban on assault weapons.”

Analysis

Gun control is gaining momentum in Washington, where bills are pending or waiting to be introduced after a spate of school shootings across the country. Boxer is a leading advocate of gun control. Here, too, she hopes to exploit Issa’s position and cast him as a “extremist.” Fong, however, adopts something of a political no-win position, potentially angering gun groups with his stand on assault weapons while antagonizing gun control supporters by opposing the ban on cheap handguns.

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The Issue

Immigration: Would you restrict federal benefits or deny citizenship to children of illegal immigrants, and should the government allow companies to hire more skilled workers who are not citizens?

Their Positions

DARRELL ISSA: Would deny benefits to children of non-citizens and favors more visas for skilled workers from abroad.

“There is a legal and illegal way to be here and if you are here illegally we are not going to give you welfare benefits. We are not going to relocate you if the government takes over your house.”

MATT FONG: Would preserve benefits to children of non-citizens. Favors continued crackdown on illegal immigration and requiring the rest of the nation to share the cost of incarcerating illegals in California. Favors increasing visas for engineers and computer technicians to keep companies from moving overseas.

“As far as dealing with the children of illegal immigrants, they are innocent.”

Analysis

Once more, Fong takes a more moderate position on a hot-button issue. Although that moderation could help him move toward the center in a fall campaign against Boxer, it probably won’t endear him to the Republican hard core, which strongly supported Proposition 187, the 1994 anti-illegal immigration initiative.

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The Issue

The Economy: Other than cutting taxes, what role should the federal government play in stimulating job creation and economic growth?

Their Positions

DARRELL ISSA: Proposes scrapping the IRS, eliminating income taxes and instituting a national sales tax.

“That would send a message that...hard work is not bad and consumption of limited resources of the planet is something we should, if anything, be taxing.”

MATT FONG: Calls education reform fundamental to a healthy economy.

“Two out of three of our children who graduate from high school today can’t read, write or speak English proficiently, and if we don’t do a better job they are not going to be able to get jobs when they graduate.”

Analysis

Although both candidates are critical of the IRS as it operates today, Issa takes the most dramatic--and drastic--step of proposing to eliminate the agency entirely. Both candidates favor federal tax cuts while decreasing the size of government. Issa has made tax-cutting and government-bashing the centerpiece of his campaign. Fong, in citing education, addresses an issue that polls have shown to be a priority of California voters in this election year.

By FAYE FIORE and MARK Z. BARABAK / Los Angeles Times