Analysis of Davis v Hurst Debate

I also believe that the tone of the debate was set by the mere fact that Davis came rushing in at 7:57, which was after the introductory remarks were made. While he had a valid excuse for his tardiness GÇô there was a vote on the Hill GÇô he was unable to take the time to great his supporters. In fact, he also was extremely quick to leave after the debate was over and appeared to be in an extremely foul mood. I even heard a one person using a few choice words to describe his personality GÇô and this was a person who is neutral in the race.
Tom Davis, who was the second candidate to give his opening remarks, began by sarcastically thanking Andy for his kind words. He then began the process of attacking Andy Hurst by saying that he seems to align with the Democrats a lot. (Could that be why Andy Hurst is the Democratic nominee for Congress.) Davis carried this line of reasoning throughout the debate and tried to paint Andy as the politician who was simply trying to turn this into a partisan culture. As Andy Hurst pointed out to me after the debate, however, it is important to note that during his closing remarks, Davis was desperately trying to separate himself from President Bush. I believe Davis's desire to seperate himself from the president illustrates that even the Congressman himself realizes that he is too closely aligned with the Bush Administration --at least to close for him to easily get reelected, which is what he's trying to do right now.

I feel as though Davis gave off the impression of someone who was in a bad mood and couldnGÇÖt wait until the debate was over. Although he might have this attitude because he has been in Congress for twelve years and might, therefore, consider himself to be too important to attend any event that isn't paying him thousands of dollars -- in other words, there weren't any lobbyists paying him to attend the debate. It almost appeared as though Davis felt the debate was a complete waste of his timeand this attitude was extremely present when Greco was speaking.

Andy Hurst, however, appeared to be extremely respectful of GrecoGÇÖs presence. After the debate, in fact, Andy told me that he believed Greco was a stand up guy who had some good arguments. On one of the topics that Greco wasnGÇÖt too knowledgeable about, Andy even leaned over to pat the man on the back and offered Greco the opportunity look over his notes on the topic. Furthermore, Andy stated that it is important for the political process to ensure that all the voters are represented and that GrecoGÇÖs appearance in the debate helped to ensure that happened.

Jumping backwards a little bit, Andrew Hurst was the first candidate to give his opening remarks. He began by thanking everyone and then mentioned a very inappropriate comment Tom Davis made for an article published by the Examiner.

GÇ£IGÇÖm not going to respond to him, this guy is a goofball,GÇ¥ 11-District Rep. Tom Davis said Monday of his opponent, Democratic attorney Andrew Hurst. GÇ£HeGÇÖs never done a thing.GÇ¥

Andy also admitted that he hasnGÇÖt done many of the things that Davis has done. For instance, he proudly admitted that like many Northern Virginians, he wouldnGÇÖt support Bush 90% of the time. He continued by saying that as a Congressman, he also wouldnGÇÖt accept millions of dollars from PACS. In fact, Andy has refused to take any money from PACS during this election.

Unlike what Davis would like the voters to believe, Andy has had many professional and personal achievements during his life time. Some of the personal achievements Andy mentioned were that he was a good father and husband. I believe the simple fact that his family was there showed how supportive of his candidacy his family is. When one of his sons saw me taking notes, he even said that he hoped I supported his dad. Well, I think itGÇÖs safe to say that IGÇÖll be voting for Andrew Hurst on November 7.

Andy also pointed out that he has had a successful career as a lawyer with Reed Smith LLP. On December 3, 2005, in fact, the Bar Association of the District of Columbia awarded Hurst with the title of the Young Lawyer of the Year. This is extremely important to the campaign because it shows that Andy has been extremely successful in his professional life and itGÇÖs reasonable to assume that his success would continue during his political career. It is also worth noting that this is AndyGÇÖs first attempt at running for office. Therefore, if he is elected, Hurst will be able to bring fresh ideas into Congress.

Tom Davis, however, made the claim that Andy wouldnGÇÖt be able to accomplish many of the things that he did while in office. That completely ignores the fact that fresh ideas are needed in an institution that appears to have completely stalled in the War on Terror and has now put our country into a significant amount of debt. Tom Davis, however, would like to scare the voters into believing that new ideas are bad --kind of like how the Bush administration uses fear as a tool to win support for its plans.

If one were to argue that Davis is willing to listen to knew ideas, then a different explanation would obviously be needed in order to explain why Davis thinks Andy wouldnGÇÖt have the potential to get anything done in office. The only other obvious solution would be that Hurst wouldnGÇÖt be able to get anything done because he doesnGÇÖt receive funding from lobbyists and PACS. I would argue, however, that his unwillingness to accept money from lobbyists is a prime example of why he would be productive while serving in Congress. Hurst would be held accountable to the people instead of the lobbyists. Therefore, I suppose Davis was wrong yet again.

Furthermore, Davis is not only willing to accept money from lobbyists, but he has supported corrupt lawmakers. It is DavisGÇÖs connections to lobbyists that call into question whether or not Davis is loyal to the voters, or to special interest groups. As Greco would later point out, the Constitution of the United States of America starts out with the phrase, GÇ£We the people.GÇ¥ Therefore, the government must be held accountable to the people instead of special interest groups. DavisGÇÖs response was that he had 8,000 donors from this area and tried to attack Andy by saying that many of his donations came from other lawyers. (Which is probably because Andy has earned the respect of fellow lawyers and they know that he will do a good job.)

After the debate was over, Tom Davis appeared to try and get out of the building as soon as possible. Although it was tempting to ask why his campaign hadnGÇÖt responded to multiple emails I have sent, I simply decided to introduce myself to the Congressman and avoided addressing any particular issues. After all, he seemed to be in a hurry to get home.

Andy Hurst, however, stayed around to answer several questions of the people that attended the debate. In fact, even though he knew he already has my vote, he answered a few questions from me that will come up as I break down the debate further over the course of a few days.

I honestly think the behavior of the two men displays a lot about their values. Andy Hurst wants to make sure that he hears what people have to say and are interested in GÇô even if they are already in his boat. Tom Davis, however, would like to leave that type of work to his staff. However, that staff isnGÇÖt doing a very good job because I have yet to receive a response to emails I sent weeks ago.

Since there was a fair amount of information discussed, I will be analyzing the debate in several posts (not all right in a row, so those who arenGÇÖt in the 11th should still read). However, as I stated earlier, I have posted my rough notes from the evening.

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