After the pair of televised U.S. Senate debates on Oct. 7 and 9, students might have been able to sympathize with Sen. Kay Hagan — she was being called out on attendance.
Republican challenger Thom Tillis called Hagan out at both debates for missing half of the 2014 meetings of the Senate's Armed Services Committee after Hagan corrected him that she was not a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
During the post-debate news conference on Oct. 7, Hagan admitted to missing one of the Armed Services Committee meetings to go to a fundraiser — and Tillis’ campaign responded by modifying an existing ad about Hagan’s committee attendance.
The new ad ends with the line, “In fact, Hagan admits she prioritized a cocktail party to benefit her campaign. While ISIS grew, President Obama did nothing. Senator Hagan did cocktails.”
The ad crystallizes two points that Tillis drove home during the debate: Hagan is directly linked to President Obama, and her handling of the rise of the Islamic State has been lacking.
Tillis has already run many ads against Hagan for what he claims is her failure to stop the growth of the terrorist group — which is in part an effort to appeal to the large number of veterans who call North Carolina home.
While Hagan has admitted to missing the meeting, she maintains that she is still informed about foreign affairs and pointed out at the news conference that Tillis’ district had called on him to resign from his position as Speaker of the N.C. House because he had missed multiple legislative sessions to fundraise for his campaign.
“He’s alleging that I don’t know about the issues, but I’ve been clear and decisive,” Hagan said. “The issue is Speaker Tillis does not know what he’d do.”
During the debate and at the news conference, Tillis said Obama should establish a no-fly zone, revoke the passports of Americans who have joined the Islamic State and form an international coalition.
state@dailytarheel.com
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