Incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Burr and democratic challenger Elaine Marshall participated in the first of three television debates Monday evening.
While topics spanned issues from health care to the war and offshore drilling, most of the debate focused on the current state of the economy and U.S. unemployment.
Here are some of the major issues discussed and what the candidates had to say about them:
- Economy
Burr said policies must be changed in order to provide Americans with jobs. He said the unused funds should be used to promote a positive impact on employment.
Marshall said employers who keep their companies in the U.S. should be rewarded to prevent shipping jobs overseas.
The stimulus package has prevented the country from experiencing a second depression, Marshall said.
- War in Afghanistan
Marshall said government officials should listen to military leaders instead of irrationally setting dates to withdraw from Afghanistan. She said it is more important to have an orderly withdrawal and keep people out of additional harms way than to get hung up on specific dates.
Burr said he was supportive of the surge that was successful in Iraq. If it works the same way in Afghanistan, officials should ignore an arbitrary date of withdrawal, he said.
- Health care reform
Burr said he would vote to repeal, defund and replace the current bill with something that would help Americans. He said he supports an expansion of coverage, cost control and promoting prevention and wellness rather than reducing the number of outlets.
Marshall said the current bill is a work in progress that needs to be fixed.
- Immigration
Burr said we desperately need immigration reform. The immigration policy should be redone to make it easier to come to the country legally than illegally.
A pathway to citizenship should not be given to people here illegally, he said.
Marshall also said the policies needed reform, but they also need to be tough, practical and fair. She said laws already in place should be enforced and the government should be tougher on employers. She said people should be given a pathway to citizenship.
- Offshore drilling
Burr said the question of drilling off the coast of North Carolina should be left up to the people who live on the shore of the state. He said offshore drilling would help ease dependence on foreign sources of oil in unstable regions.
Marshall said she was against offshore drilling even before the gulf disaster.
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