Klobuchar, Bills spar in vigorous State Fair debate
By Devin Henry | 08/30/12
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and her November opponent, Republican state Rep. Kurt Bills, pulled no punches in a vigorous, often contentious debate at the Minnesota State Fair on Thursday.
The match-up drew an overflow crowd to Minnesota Public Radio’s booth on a steamy day at the state fairgrounds. The crowd was pretty evenly split between supporters of the two, and they were feisty throughout, cheering or booing after most of the candidates’ responses.
That just played into what was already a heated debate between Klobuchar and Bills: The incumbent frequently called her opponent and his positions “extreme,” and the challenger tried to tie Klobuchar to the inability of the Democratically controlled Senate to pass legislation.
“This election is not Republican vs. Democrat,” Bills said. “It’s America vs. Washington D.C.”
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Klobuchar went sharply at Bills’ support for establishing a gold- and silver-based currency and a bill he sponsored in the Legislature to study the viability of introducing a state currency. She vigorously defended the Federal Reserve system, which Bills opposes, and said his monetary policy consists of plans that are “not mainstream ideas for the future of this country.”
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The two were closer, but barely, on the matter of Afghanistan, a topic that consumed a few minutes during the middle of the debate: Bills supports an immediate, “aggressive” withdrawal from the region and Klobuchar said she backed the president’s plan to begin a withdrawal from the region next fall, adding, “We simply cannot stay there indefinitely; we need to bring out troops home.”
