Garrett/Shulman Debate Summary

I'll do a more comprehensive write-up in a little bit of tonight's debate between Representative Scott Garrett and Dennis Shulman, but here's a summary of how I saw things.

Garrett's Best Moment:

Talking about the bailout. This is Garrett's sweet spot and he hit a home run with it. Garrett brought up the fact that we were told the sky would fall if the bailout didn't happen, the bailout happened, and the sky fell anyway. Even when Shulman introduced the idea that AMT relief wouldn't have happened, which is a bit misleading, Garrett handled that as well.

Shulman's Best Moment:

Shulman attacked Garrett's use of "support" toward alternative energy, saying he hadn't voted for it. As I noted in an earlier post, Garrett is the only Congressman from NJ to oppose every effort to increase alternative energy tax credits and funding during the 110th Congress. It couldn't have surprising one vote didn't pop in Garrett's head. Garrett did vote for the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which gave tacit support to alternatives, while handing $14.5 billion in tax breaks to big oil.

Garrett's Worst Moment:

See above. In a campaign that's been way too personal, the Shulman camp now has the policy video they need to flood the Internet and the airwaves.

Shulman's Worst Moment:

Saying we should expect government waste. Garrett's other sweet spot is railing against waste, that's what people come to expect, and Shulman defending waste won't sit well with those who are furious about waste and what it costs taxpayers. Now the Garrett camp has their video (but I don't know if they had a camera there like Shulman).

Notable appearances, Councilman Paul Aronsohn and former BCRO Chairman Guy Talarico.