Less than a month before the Second Congressional District election, U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Republican opponent Dave Magnum participated in a forum on global issues Sunday at Memorial Union.
Magnum worked to distance himself from President Bush and establish himself as a moderate, calling for replacement of cabinet members to provide a new perspective on the situation in Iraq. He criticized Baldwin's extremism"" when she called for withdrawal of funds supporting further military action.
""We cannot abandon these people who have believed in us,"" Magnum said. ""If we are going to be this great superpower as we are""there's never been a nation more qualified""we have got to honor our commitments.""
Baldwin refuted the claim that she supported ""cutting and running,"" but insisted that Congress must deny the president certain funding, saying the U.S. Army's presence is now encouraging terrorism.
Baldwin expressed her thoughts on the United States' role as a superpower. She called on the president to quicken efforts being made against genocide in Darfur, urging him to work with NATO to send peacekeeping troops, even before the United Nations sends in its own forces.
""It's an absolute humanitarian disaster,"" Baldwin said. ""We need to step up even faster than Congress can act because it's a crisis right now and we're not even in session.""
Magnum said he shared Baldwin's concern in Darfur, but criticized her attitude by reverting back to the Iraq War, asking why she was more concerned with Darfur citizens than Iraqis.
Concerning immigration, Magnum called for swift and severe penalties for businesses that hire illegal immigrants.
Baldwin labeled Magum's proposed legislation as ""punitive,"" expressing support of a bill written by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, which provides immigrants with a path by which they can become documented.
The candidates also discussed global warming, North Korea and AIDS in Africa.
Toward the end of the forum, the focus of the debate shifted to a recently published survey that ranked Baldwin as one of the 15 least influential people in Congress. Magnum pointed to the survey as a sign of the ineffectiveness of Baldwin's partisanship, while Baldwin claimed it was conducted subjectively and swayed by ""sour grapes.
