(Sioux City, IA) In last night’s final debate between State Senator Joni Ernst (R-Red Oak) and Congressman Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) in Iowa’s U.S. Senate Race, Ernst nailed Congressman Braley on his previous stance on Obamacare.
This is something in the final three weeks of this race that Ernst needs to hammer home – Braley championed Obamacare.
Specifically during the debate she said:
Under Obamacare, there are still 31 million Americans that will not have health care. The Congressman has stated costs will not go up, but we are seeing heavy increasing costs because of policy cancellations. You’ve stated just a few years back that you would not change a thing about Obamacare, and yet today you are saying, opps yeah we do need to make some changes to the bill. You said you read every page of this bill. You tabbed it, you highlighted it. So either you didn’t understand what was in the bill or you were misleading Iowans and I don’t know which one is worse.
Watch the video of her comments.
Courtesy of the Republican Party of Iowa rapid response they highlighted the 2012 Iowa Press debate that Braley had with Republican challenger Ben Lange in the Iowa 1st Congressional District race.
Watch the video of this exchange.
BEN LANGE: “I know you mentioned read the bill. You’re telling us that you read 2700 pages”
BRALEY: “You’re damn right I read the bill. I took it to every — I took it to every one of my 17 town hall meetings, Ben and if you had come to them you would have seen that.”
BEN LANGE: “2700 pages in the middle of the night”
BRALEY: “I had every page highlighted, I had my handwritten notes in the margin and I had tabs there. I take my job very seriously, Ben.”
The debate didn’t start off well for Braley either. He was introduced by the debate moderator as a “rank-and-file Democrat who goes along with the party line” and has only passed one bill in his last eight years in Congress.
He also claimed that he supports life.
Braley said said he opposed late-term abortions except those to save the life and “health” of the mother. He did not specify when the cut-off for an abortion would be. He said instead that “late-term” is “a term that has a specific legal meaning.”
Yeah… he supports life.
He also admitted that he wanted to raise taxes on two different occassions, and said he opposed e-verify despite supporting it in the comprehensive immigration bill passed by the Senate last year.
It was not a good evening for Congressman Braley.
This race is still considered a toss up. Ernst has lead the four latest polls anywhere from 1 to four points. Her Real Clear Politics poll average gives her a 2 point lead over Braley.
