Montana's U.S. House candidates squared-off this weekend for their third - and arguably liveliest - debate.
Democrat John Lewis and Republican Ryan Zinke repeatedly drew sharp contrasts throughout Saturday evening's debate in Bozeman, starting with the question of how to best respond to the rise of Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria.
Zinke repeated his long-held stance that he'd prefer to fight the militants in the deserts of Iraq than here in America. Lewis called that a "simplistic" viewpoint:
"They estimate there are one billion Muslims in this world...out of that one billion, they say about 15-percent are Islamic extremists. If it's 15-percent, that means there are 150-million Islamic extremists. The idea that we can just bomb our way out of this problem is not realistic to me."
Lewis advocates for what he characterized as a "thoughtful" approach to the problem; one that includes congressional debate and authorization of any military action. Zinke outlined a three-point plan which includes the closure of America's southern border. He said an open border is now both an immigration and national security threat:
"Unfortunately, it's going to call for America to lead and you cannot control ISIS by air alone. Secondly, you limit our forces to ground forces - to special forces - (and to) supply and support. We make sure the coalitions we use are watched and efficiently trained and limit our involvement, but make sure ISIS is destroyed."
Lewis has criticized Zinke for taking the bulk of his campaign donations from out of state. He pointed out his opponent has received the bulk of his campaign donations from California, Texas and Florida:
"Those three states combined have 116 representatives in Congress. We have one Representative. I've said from the beginning that we're going to run a Montana campaign on Montana ideas, financed by Montanans and I've worked very hard at that - including contributions from all 56 counties. We're going to keep doing what we're doing, focusing on Montana ideas and focusing on running a Montana race, financed by Montanans."
Zinke says he sees no problem with -quote - "having a national stage":
"I'm not going to apologize for going to different states and having different coalitions between congressmen, but the facts are this; I have 18-thousand donors. Most of them are small donors. That 18-thousand donors - compared to about three - represents veterans and seniors that share a common idea - that America is exceptional. Do I like the fact that you have to reach out of state? No. Max Baucus had about 90-percent. No one criticizes that."
Both men also have opposing views of the Affordable Care Act. Democrat John Lewis maintains while it's by no means perfect, it's helping far more people than the system it replaced. He says he's not sure why congressional Republicans have repeatedly and unsuccessfully voted to repeal Obamacare:
"The answer is insuring more Americans. Every industrialized country in this world has asked themselves the question - is health care a right? Every single one of them has answered in the affirmative, except the United States."
Republican Ryan Zinke was asked to outline his specific concerns about the A.C.A. He said it essentially penalizes businesses for hiring over 50 employees and limits the hours those employees can work.
"When you can't get a 40 hour job, because you're penalized for it that means you're probably going to have two or three part time jobs. That means when you have part time jobs, one of those jobs is going to be just for making the payments for insurance. And what happens when you have erratic hours? Who's at home when the children come home? It's affecting working families and businesses in Montana. Can we do it better? Yes, we can John."
Zinke suggested tort reform, business pools, individual health care accounts and low-cost clinics are better alternatives to the A.C.A.
Lewis said more health co-ops in Montana would increase competition and lower rates. He also suggested that less bureaucracy - less paperwork - would further improve the health care reform.
When asked if they supported construction of Washington export terminals to deliver regional coal overseas, Lewis said that's complicated question, but one that deserved a local solution; not one crafted in Washington D.C.
Zinke said it's not a complicated question at all. He supports the terminals, saying coal trains bring tremendous revenue to Montana. He added the state need to build more oil pipelines to relieve some of the pressure on our over-burdened rail lines.
John Lewis said he not only supports coal, oil and gas development, but also advocates for more emphasis on renewable energy sources.
Listen to the full U.S. House debate from Bozeman here.
