Senate candidates Joe Miller and Scott McAdams faced each other in a debate sponsored by the student government at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The debate in the Schaible Auditorium had prospective audience members sent to other buildings on campus to watch the live web stream because the room quickly exceeded fire capacity.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski was invited to the debate but did not attend because of a scheduling conflict.
The two candidates were sharp against each other, but found camaraderie in “debating against Lisa.”
While both candidates agreed that a $13 trillion deficit is unsustainable, they differed on how to address it.
Miller’s answers centered largely on reducing the size of federal government and giving the states control of things like education.
“The problem with the federal Department of Education is that they mandate one-size fits all,” Miller said.
Miller said he was not saying the federal government should not fund education, but that it should not mandate curriculum.
McAdams agreed that one size does not fit all, but advocated for a program of local control with federal oversight.
“I have been a local control guy since day one,” he said.
McAdams said that teaching to a test narrows the body of knowledge rather than expanding it.
“There’s no such thing as a standardized kid; there’s no such thing as a standardized community," McAdams said.
He also pointed out that programs like the Rural-Urban Exchange, which sends rural students to urban areas and urban students to rural areas, was a program established by a federal earmark -- which Miller has voiced his loud opposition to.
A point of contention between the two primary election winners came with Miller’s earlier vow to not request earmarks or vote on appropriations that were not in the president’s budget.
McAdams criticized that view, saying that it lets the executive branch decide what Alaska’s priorities are.
“When you look at the history of the American West, at the prosperity of the American West, it’s hard to imagine the American West without what was once a trans-continental railroad to nowhere,” McAdams said.
When it came to the economy and natural resources, both candidates agreed that things needed to change. McAdams compared the state’s natural resources to a house that sat on the market empty for years.
Miller said that too much regulation is placing the burden on Third World countries, and said that when it comes to natural resources, “The State of Alaska should be in the driver's seat.”
The debate included some lighter moments. When the moderator accidentally addressed candidate “Scott Miller,” McAdams piped in, “I was about to say ‘Wonder Twins, activate!” offering Miller a fist-bump. Miller later joked that he could beat McAdams on the Xbox, regardless the outcome of the election.
The two candidates will meet again, along with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, on Channel 2 Sunday night.
Contact Kortnie Westfall at kwestfall@ktuu.com
